


Concealed Carry

by Spoon888



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Below Average Parenting Skills, Dadwave, Deepthroating, Hiding Babies In Walls, M/M, Megatron Is Somehow Both Oblivious And Suspicious, Oral Sex, Sparklings, Starscream and Soundwave Are In Cahoots, Sticky Sexual Interfacing, Surprise Sparkling Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:41:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21563950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spoon888/pseuds/Spoon888
Summary: Starscream's care-taking skills leave something to be desired, Soundwave is roped into unpaid babysitting duties, and concerned by a sudden lack of takeover attempts, Megatron becomes convinced Starscream is hiding something from him.Something. Or someone.
Relationships: Megatron/Starscream, Soundwave & Starscream
Comments: 649
Kudos: 935





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文-普通话 國語 available: [红蜘蛛，你在藏什么](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23183902) by [Rugtlsling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rugtlsling/pseuds/Rugtlsling)



> I've had a bad week. So I'm writing another sparkling-fic and there's nothing any of you can do to stop me.

Starscream _never_ bothered to see Megatron off before an extended trip off base. Yet, there he was, stood besides the spacebridge, frown set and arms crossed. Megatron smirked, but Starscream's expression didn't lift. Something was wrong.

"What is it now?" He growled, taking the fickle seeker aside just seconds before he was due to leave. Typical of Starscream to throw him off when he least needed the distraction.

Starscream looked conflicted, and for a moment Megatron feared whatever awful thing he must have done. He couldn't smell smoke. No one appeared to be missing or injured. Yet-

"What is it?" He asked in a quieter voice -a voice that might have passed for gentle had it been emitted from any other vocaliser.

Too gentle for Starscream it seemed. The seeker's expression hardened with new resolve. He straightened and that ever-present smirk was back.

Megatron felt his mood decrease just at the sight of it.

"A whole month away from Earth," Starscream said gleefully, "And you're sure Shockwave can't be convinced to keep you _permanently_?"

Megatron exhaled heavily and stepped away.

"Soundwave is in charge of operations," he boomed, part reminder and part tease for Starscream who would have much rather had complete, unquestioned control of the Earth Decepticons. "Do try not to kill each other in my absence."

He looked at Starscream again, fixing him with his sternest of glares. The seeker's usual insubordination had been paired with an uncommonly thunderous mood as of late, and to be honest, he was glad to be getting away from it. Though he did fear for the safety of those he was leaving behind.

The spacebridge activated. He looked back before he stepped through, glimpsing fear flash across Starscream's face.

It was too late to ask. Cybertron awaited, and whatever it was, Starscream had already had his chance to tell him.

Whatever it was, it couldn't have been _that_ important.

* * *

Megatron knew something was wrong when his return from Cybertron was delayed by a full six days and Starscream _hadn't_ taken the opportunity to stage a takeover. Soundwave greeted him by the tower entrance with a megabyte list of things that had gone wrong in his absence -infighting, attempted defection, leaks- but not a single one of them mentioned his ever resistant second.

"That's all?"

"Affirmative," Soundwave's visor glowed.

"And you haven't experienced any trouble with..." He made a vague gesture, but Soundwave knew him well enough to know who was being referred too.

Soundwave pulled up files for individual personnel performances for the past month or so Megatron had been absent.

"Starscream's productivity has dropped by fifty five percent." Soundwave stated, which was worrying because Starscream's productivity had never been particularly high to begin with. "Punctuality has shown a marked decrease as well."

Megatron stroked his chin, thoughtful. Starscream became easily distracted when he spent long hours working in a lab, and having not put the seeker on any experiments himself, he could only assume Starscream was working on his own, undoubtedly nefarious plans.

"He's up to something."

"Agreed."

"Have one of your spies stationed in the lab."

"Starscream; has not visited the lab in over a month."

Megatron stopped mid-stride. "What?"

"Starscream; secluded in his quarters. Gaining entry has proven difficult. Attitude; poor."

So Starscream had locked himself away in his quarters like a moody mechling? Perhaps this wasn't so complicated after all.

Megatron straightened and smirked, having a good idea as to what this might be about. "I will see to him."

"Affirmative," If Soundwave knew what he meant by 'seeing to him', he gave no indication to having an opinion on it, allowing Megatron to stroll off in the direction of the officer's quarters himself.

A month had been a long time to start with, and that was likely why the seeker was sulky. Perhaps his return, and a little extra _attention_ , could raise the lonely seeker's spirits.

* * *

Starscream was far from lonely. He was _praying_ for lonely.

His sparkling sat in a basin (formally the basin used as the chemical bath from the lab) in the middle of the floor, with most of the solvent solution Starscream had poured in now puddled around it. The week old sparkling could barely fit in the metal tub as it was. With his blocky limbs and too-big pedes, he was Megatron's double, right down to the frowning face and stupid helmet.

Starscream had chosen a _seeker_ designation for him, Freefall - a strong, noble name, long before the sparkling himself had made his first appearance. His emergence as a grounder had dashed all of Starscream's hopes and dreams for a elegant little flier like himself. He had come into the world large and loud, black hands balled into fists and feet kicking. He was dense too. Like a _brick_. 

Freefall was suddenly a very apt name after all.

"What do you have against being clean?!" Starscream demanded, trying to scrub the grease smears from Freefall's knees and hands where the sparkling been crawling around on the filthy floor all cycle unattended.

Starscream had done his best to remove anything from the room that could do a sparkling harm, but Freefall had developed a penchant for peeling back the wall panels of the bulkheads and sticking his fat little fingers into all of the wiring. He smelt vaguely like smoke most evenings when Starscream returned. He often wondered how often the little idiot electrocuted himself. 

Though as seemingly indestructable as the sire that had created him, Starscream still checked Freefall over for injuries, turning him this way and that, just to be sure nothing was smoking, or on fire. Freefall squirmed and kicked about, but otherwise seemed unharmed.

"Idiot," He'd muttered, and dumped him in the basin. Something Freefall disliked just as much.

"We need to work out a new system," He told Freefall, cupping this hand and scooping up the solvent to tip it over Freefall's bucket-head. Freefall thrashed and splashed, trying to slap his hand away. "Your sire will be back soon."

Freefall had no idea why that was such a dilemma, and slapped the watery solvent solution curiously.

"He doesn't know about you," Starscream explained. "And he's not going to happy if he does."

Freefall picked up one of the floating plastic ducks Starscream had stolen from Soundwave's contraband stores and squeaked it.

"And if he _does_ find out about you," Starscream continued darkly, "and decides to ship you off to Cybertron, out of the way, I'm _not_ coming with you."

Freefall began chewing on the duck's head, looking at him.

"Don't bother giving me that look," Starscream growled, propping his cheek against his fist. " _I_ didn't ask for you."

Freefall chewed faster, making the duck squeak sadly. Starscream began prising it out of his mouth, worried he'd swallow it.

"If you'd come out a fragging seeker like you were supposed too, I could hide you in my cockpit." He looked down at said cockpit, then Freefall's not unsubstantial frame. "But I'm not going to punish my back like that."

Freefall gripped the edge of the basin and began to stand on his fat stumpy legs, making an angry noise like he wanted to get out. Starscream sighed and took him under the arms, lifting his dripping frame out of the solution. Legs kicked, splashng solvent everywhere, and for the ninth time that day, Starscream wondered why he hadn't just extinguished this spark the second he'd realised it had formed.

Because he'd thought he was getting a seeker, he reminded himself, a little version of him he could raise and nurture into a promising future leader. But here he was, stuck with an impossible to hide, aerodynamically challenged, Mini-Megatron.

"Sparklings are supposed to be small and cute," He told Freefall, hefting him up onto his hip. Freefall grabbed at his armour for purchase, his stumpy hands already almost half the size of Starscream's. He wasn't much smaller than a mini-bot. A heavy, densely armoured mini-bot.

Freefall's round little face peered at Starscream from beneath the rim of his too-large helmet.

Starscream's spark softened some. "Well, at least you're still cute. For a grounder."

He set his sparkling on the edge of his berth, but Freefall, like most sparklings, wasn't keen on the idea of staying put. He rolled onto his tummy and began to lower himself down from the berth, strong hands gripping the sheets as his short legs dangled over the edge, searching for the floor.

"No," Starscream growled, and hoisted him back onto the berth again. "Stay."

"Bah!" Freefall said angrily, shaking his fists. He could probably already throw a mean punch.

Starscream dug into his subspace for wax. It was a shame to waste such a high quality product on a sparkling too young and stupid to appreciate it -especially considering the record breaking speed Freefall took to get himself dirty again- but his young armour needed the extra layer of protection from all the metal corroding substances that existed on this dirty planet. There were puddles of sea water everywhere, and no sparkling of _his_ was getting rusty knees.

Freefall hated wax though. He struggled, he whined, he bit, he pretended to be dead - so far none of these tactics had dissuaded Starscream from carrying out his duty as a creator though.

"This would be easier if you didn't fight me!" He snarled, dodging peddle-kicks from clunky pedes.

He was so distracted with Freefall, that he didn't hear the first door chime until the second one went off accompanied by Megatron's voice through the door. " _Starscream?!_ "

Starscream looked up in the midst of wrestling his sparkling, one of Freefall's ankles grasped in his hand, the other furiously rubbing wax onto his aft. He was speckled with solvent spots and smeared with the blobs of wax Freefall had managed to dodge.

Megatron?! Back?! Already?!

He checked his chrono, wondering how he could have lost track of the time.

"Uh, just a minute!" He called, scooping Freefall's heavy frame up with a groan and snapping his head this way and that as he searched for a place to hide him. A seeker sparkling _would_ have fit in his cockpit, or in a desk draw, or anywhere really. But Freefall was _four times_ the size of a seeker sparkling!

With a curse, he moved towards his desk and smacked the loose bulkhead panel with his elbow so it clattered down, revealing the hidden compartment beneath. It was full of contraband; credits, high-grade, experimental weaponry, and an ...adult toy or two (in his defence, Megatron _had_ been gone a month).

He hurriedly pulled it all out and let it fall to the floor at his pedes to make enough room for Freefall. The sparkling made a curious noise when he was boosted up into the dark compartment. He was Megatron's son after all, and if the coding was true, small, cramped dark places wouldn't bother him. Starscream wasn't planning on leaving him in there for long anyway.

"Be good, you little monster," He cooed, picking up the wall paneling again and securing it into place, just as the override code for his door was being entered.

He whirled around just as the door slid open, his embarrassing contraband still littered around his pedes. Megatron stood in the doorway, optics slowy moving down his frame to settle on some of the more embarrassing items.

"...I see why it took you so long to open the door," Megatron mocked with ease.

Starscream scoffed in disgust and hastily kicked the items under his berth, stalking away from Megatron, "Hello to you too. Nice to see you're not dead."

Megatron's gaze followed him across the room. For once, Starscream was thankful for the attention. He didn't want Megatron paying too much attention to the half-full basin on the floor, or the rubber duck, or any of the other hundreds of telling clues lingering about the room.

"I see you're angry I was so late in returning to you."

Starscream laughed, picking up datafiles to make it look like he was tidying up, but only used them to hide the scribbled drawings Freefall had drawn him that morning under them so Megatron wouldn't see. "I was throughly enjoying my Megatron-free vacation, actually. I'm only irritated it had to end so soon."

Megatron must have found his trip to Cybertron relaxing, rejuvenating even, because he didn't turn into this scowling pillar of indignity and short temper, and weathered Starscream's sarcastic snips with an easy stare.

Starscream envied his trip away, even if he had been stuck with no one but Shockwave for company a full month. It had to have been better than suffering the _joys of parenthood_ with Freefall. He had felt exhausted every moment of the day since the second he had learned of the little speck in his chest, and the workload hadn't let up yet.

He rubbed at his face. Primus, he didn't even want to know what he looked like.

"You're looking somewhat less glamorous than you did when I left," Megatron observed suspiciously, at exactly the wrong moment.

Starscream fisted his hands at his sides and whirled around with a hiss of, "I'm not a fragging sculpture, Megatron. I'm allowed to look as shabby as you once and a while."

A brow arched, which was utterly infuriating because Megatron was still calm and levelheaded and Starscream was the only one ranting like an unhinged lunatic.

"I only meant that it was uncommon to see you like ...this," Megatron took a step closer, and his large cumbersome pede knocked the basin full of solvent in the centre of the floor. He looked down with a frown, only just noticing it's presence there. "What is-?"

"Out!" Starscream howled, stabbing a finger towards the door, "These are my private quarters and you have no right to be in here without my permission!"

Megatron looked even more concerned, "What are you up to?"

"I was about to _clean myself_ if you must know!" Starscream barked. "Since I'm so _shabby_!"

"And you're unable to use the wash racks because-"

"I didn't want to run into _you_ , and so much for that plan!" Starscream threw his arms in a air, knowing his excess melodrama would soon exhaust Megatron's patience and the big bullheaded moron would be more likely to leave him alone.

It was getting late, and he needed to put Freefall to recharge or the little slag would be cranky all day tomorrow and-

"I see I came at an inconvenient time." Megatron finally, _finally_ relented, but his optics were narrow with suspicion. "I'll see you in the command centre tomorrow-"

Oh Primus. Regular shift duty. Starscream had forgotten that Megatron's return would mean he was no longer able to control his own schedule- or lack of a schedule. If he didn't show up for regular duties, on time, Megatron would make sure there were repercussions. What was he going to do with Freefall all cycle?!

"...Yes," he said stiffly. "Bright and early."

Megatron gave him a firm nod and stepped out, the door whispering shut behind him.

Starscream traipsed over to the wall panelling and gently prised it open. Freefall's wide red optics blinked at him, brightening in recognition. He babbled and beeped happily.

"Oh, you enjoyed that, did you?" Starscream muttered, groaning as he reached in to take Freefall out. "I'll bear that in mind next time you're screaming at me for no reason. Maybe I can sound proof it."

Freefall clutched at his armour and snuggled close, his big optics sleepily blinking one at a time, his mouth open and slack.

Starscream climbed onto the berth with him. He'd clean up tomorrow, he told himself, knowing even then it was a lie. Freefall rested perfectly in the crook of his arm, laid across a wing. His stubby little limbs twitched every now and then, like he was chasing something in his dreams.

Starscream let a smile drift across his face, and decided to worry about handling tomorrow when tomorrow came.

With any luck Megatron died in the night from some mysterious disease he'd picked up in Shockwave's lab and Starscream would never have to worry about juggling parenthood with command duties ever again.

It was unlikely, but he could always hope.


	2. Chapter 2

Starscream should have been more accustomed to waking up with a pair of sticky hands in his turbines and a screaming mouth at his audial after weeks of it. But every morning his Freefall-shaped alarm went off, it sounded _louder_. 

He groaned, brow creasing, and waved a hand at Freefall dismissively. His duty shift wasn't due to start for another three hours yet, but that was typical of Freefall. He never had the decency to wait till dawn for a refuel, like everyone else had to.

Starscream blinked an optic online to find Freefall sat on his chest, wailing away to himself, vents hiccuping, utterly distraught. Starscream understood that tiny tanks didn't sustain a sparkling for long, but was there _really_ a need for so much fuss? Why couldn't sparklings simply wake their parents with a nudge and polite good morning?

"You awful, awful sparkling," Starscream groaned, sitting up with hands cupped around Freefall's frame to stop him from toppling off the berth, as he was warrant to do. No balance, even for a grounder.

Realising he was awake, Freefall's tears cleared up with startling speed. Starscream optics narrowed. He knew it'd all been for show.

His chest ached where his lump of a sparkling had been sat crushing his armour, so he gave it a rub as he swung his legs off the berth and stumbled towards a storage cabinet he kept spare rations of energon in. He sat Freefall on it's top and dug around for a cube, decanting half of it -because Freefall was an idiot that didn't know his own tank capacity, and a straw. He dropped it in and placed it in front of the sparkling.

Freefall leaned forward with an open mouth and tried to catch the straw with his mouth, knocking it about and making pathetic noises of frustration when he missed.

"For the love of-!" Starscream's grabbed the straw and Freefall's clumsy hands and wrapped them around the straw for him. "How many times. You need to _hold_ it."

Freefall didn't respond, already sucking down the fuel, fast and loud, like he'd been starved for days. Starscream rolled his optics, knowing the air bubbles he was inevitably swallowing were going to make him sick later. All down _him_ , most likely.

He leant against the wall with his optics half shuttered, waiting for Freefall to finish so he could catch a couple more hours before having to get up and face the day. "You're going to be on your own today," Starscream told him.

Freefall was focused on his cube and didn't appear to realise he was being spoken to.

"Your sire is a real slave driver," Starscream continued. "Which is ironic really, considering."

Freefall had sucked all of the energon out of the cube and was now pulling out the straw to chew on it's end. He knocked the cube onto it's side and shoved his fist into it, getting his hand covered in energon, which he then started spreading across the storage unit, and himself.

At this point, Starscream was honestly too tired to care.

"I should be able to get back around midday to fuel you," He continued. "I promise I won't let you starve."

Freefall used his finger to draw a squiggle out of energon on his own chest. For one bizarre moment, Starscream was reminded in the war paint Megatron would wear as a gladiator. He drew out a rag and took one of Freefall's tiny arms to start cleaning him off. There were, of course, struggles.

"You're sticky, you fool!" Starscream hissed as Freefall wailed when his chest was cleaned up, kicking tiny pedes against the top of the storage unit with loud _bang-bang-bangs._

Starscream hoisted him up, muttering curse words under his breath. At the rate he was going, Freefall's first word was going to be 'Fragger.'

* * *

Freefall had fallen back in recharge when it was finally time for Starscream to leave, and though he wasn't kicking up a screaming fuss at his creator abandoning him, it somehow doubled the guilt. Starscream lingered to watch his sparkling's chest rise and fall as he recharged, one of his small-but-big hands curled around the edge of the covers, his limbs spread like a starfish.

Starscream debated waking him to say goodbye, but having to immediately leave afterwards would inevitably distress him.

But wasn't it worse to let him wake up alone?

Starscream swallowed thickly and pulled the covers higher to cover Freefall's shoulders, brushing the creases in the fabric away. He hated parenthood, and he hated even more what it was doing to him.

He left quickly, not wanting to be distracted any further by the adorable sight of his sparkling sleeping. He was already late.

He headed for the Command Centre, slipping in amongst the other stragglers, ducking his head when he spotted Megatron's broad back, stood in front of the monitors as it showed spy footage of a group Autobots helping humans repair a road.

He rolled his optics. Stupid old mech was _obsessed_. If he spent less time worrying about what the Autobots were doing and more time worrying about how he was going to fuel his own growing faction, maybe-

"Starscream."

Starscream looked up and found himself staring at Soundwave's impressively broad chest compartment. He glared and lifted his chin.

"Don't you have better things to do than harass me over tardiness?"

Soundwave's head tilted down, and if Starscream hadn't known better, he could have sworn the mech was staring at his turbines. He glanced down, and realised Soundwave wasn't so much staring at his turbines as he was the stubby, sparkling-shaped handprints of energon that had been _left on them_. He turned quickly, frantically taking a rag out of his subspace to clean it off.

"Starscream; increasingly distracted."

"Then maybe you should stop adding to those distractions!" Starscream snarled over his wing.

He moved away from Soundwave. As one of the more perceptive Decepticons, Starscream already feared how much he might know. The prying Communications Officer had been keeping a worrying close optic on him in Megatron's absence, and was no stranger to the concept of caring for things small and stupid, or the special brand of insanity it could inspire in a single parent.

He took refuge behind one of the monitors, next to Ramjet, who appeared to be recharging with his optics online. Resentful from his own lack of recharge, Starscream gave him a shove and he woke with a shout, hands flying to the keyboard to type frantic gibberish.

Megatron glanced over.

Starscream didn't duck fast enough.

"And what are you doing hiding back there?" Megatron boomed, ambled over, and planted one of his thick arms across the top of the monitor, leaning over and blocking the overhead lights, and most of Starscream's screen.

Ramjet began scooting his chair across the aisle towards a different monitor bank.

"I was assessing our energy levels," Starscream sniffed, and with a few taps, brought them up. "Oh, _look at that_. Below twenty percent. _Again_."

Megatron's expression darkened. "Since you're so interested in our stockpile, perhaps _you_ can work on leading the next raid?"

Starscream's mood sunk. Between regular shift duties, patrol, taking care of Freefall, and _sleep_ , where the Pit was he going to find the time to plan an entire raid? He'd just have to turf another lot of duties off on Skywarp and hope no one died as a result.

"Fine," he hissed.

Megatron didn't seem to appreciate his tone, and his uncommonly tolerant mood seemed to have evaporated since the previous evening.

"And since you're so keen on hiding behind the monitors today, perhaps you'll be so kind as to spent the rest of the shift watching them."

Starscream blinked, and stood in a rush, "Actually I-"

"Sit. _Down_ ," Megatron ordered. "Whatever scheme you've been planning in my absence will have to wait for today. You're not to leave that seat for anything less than a base evacuation."

Starscream wondered how many high-grade's he'd have to bribe Skywarp with to get him to pull the evacuation alarm. "Yes _sir_ ," he hissed, siting stiffly in his assigned seat, chest and tanks tights at the thought of Freefall sitting alone in his quarters, all cycle, un-fuelled.

The day dragged, and every second that ticked by was torment. It was midday and Starscream's programming was urging him to get up and attend to his sparkling. Freefall needed fuelling, he needed affection, he needed company. No sparkling should be left unattended for such a length of time.

He tapped his pede and shifted in his seat, the monitor in front of him full of boring jargon any idiot could monitor. Megatron was at the main console, obsessively coordinating the cassettes' movements to spy on the Autobot's.

He slipped out of his seat and began sneaking towards the door. With Megatron distracted, he might not even notice he was-

_Squawk_

Starscream froze, just as armour shifted and Megatron turned at Laserbeak's alarm call to catch him half-way through the door.

"Two choices, Starscream," Megatron began, sounding exasperated. "Escort yourself back to your position, or _Soundwave_ escorts you to the brig."

Starscream missed the days where he could have argued and pushed back and taken Megatron's patience to the limit, but he couldn't afford to spend one night in the brig, let alone a week, or longer. Not when he had a sparkling to care for.

Fragging parental programming!

Burning with humiliation at having to be _obedient_ , Starscream traipsed back to his seat and sat himself down.

"Permission to be dismissed," Soundwave then asked Megatron, as if to rub it in.

Megatron made sure to look at Starscream when he smugly said, "Granted."

Starscream hunched his shoulders and glared at the monitor as he heard Soundwave pass him. He glanced at his chrono again. Five Earth hours till he was off shift.

Just five hours.

* * *

He raced back to the his quarters when Megatron finally released him, his spark in his throat and his tanks twisted into knots. He pictured Freefall waiting for him back in his quarters, a snotty mess of tears and hiccups, thinking he'd been abandoned, thinking he'd been left to starve. Starscream knew what he was like when he was five minutest late feeding the greedy little pest. After five hours Freefall must be thinking he was about to expire.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," he said to himself and the sparkling that couldn't hear him as he wirelessly sent the code to unlock the door to his quarters so he wouldn't have to slow down. "It's okay, I'm here-"

And found himself looking into a crimson visor full of _judgment_.

His stumbled over the threshold before the doors were fully opened and his words caught in his throat, his vocaliser stuttering into a squeak of surprise.

Freefall wasn't a screaming ball of stress and spark-break on the floor, surrounded by toys and broken possessions. He was a quiet, dozing sparkling in Soundwave's arms, his hand curled against Soundwave's chest compartment, his optics shuttered. He didn't appear to even notice his creator's arrival.

Starscream stumbled back and his wings hit the closed door behind him.

"...Oh, hello," he said stupidly.

Soundwave stood up from where he had been sat on the end of Starscream's berth, Freefall hardly shifted in his arms as Soundwave stepped closer and loomed over Starscream.

Starscream looked between his sparkling and his hated rival, and managed to summon a confused frown.

"I mean- What is _that_?" He demanded, pointing, like he had nothing to do with Freefall.

"A sparkling," Soundwave said simply.

"A _sparkling_?!" Starscream widened his optics in faux surprise. "Where did it come from?!"

"This is a farce," Soundwave intoned. "This is your sparkling."

"I have never seen that sparkling before in my _life_!" Starscream doubled down on the denial, which had always worked so well for him in the past. "And he looks nothing like me. What are you trying to do, Soundwave?! Plant a Megatron-clone on me?!"

"Sparkling; not a clone," Soundwave was clearly angry, but his tone didn't shift from informative, and Freefall seemed to like his firm, but gentle aura. His enamoured, sleepy optics hadn't left Soundwave's visor. Little traitor. "A coding test confirmed his parentage."

Starscream's indignity flared up. "You tested his coding without my permission?!" He hissed.

"So you do claim responsibility for the sparkling?" Soundwave pressed.

"Alright, fine!" Starscream snarled, and went to snatch Freefall back. The stupid sparkling squirmed and made an angry noise, like he would rather in be Soundwave's arms. Fragging typical. Favouring Soundwave. Just like his sire. "How did you know he was hidden here?"

"My sensors detected his distress. He had not been fuelled."

"That is not my fault! Megatron wouldn't let me leave!"

"Megatron is unaware of his offspring's existence," Soundwave pointed out, tone dropping with judgment.

"Yes, because that's what Megatron needs. Me saddling him with more distractions," Starscream muttered, hoisting Freefall's heavy frame up to his chest and stomping across the room to the berth. He didn't stub his pede on anything on the way though, which promoted him to look down. "Did you-?"

The room was immaculate.

He turned on Soundwave, furious. "Did you _clean up?!"_

"The environment was unsuitable for a sparkling."

"I think I know what sort of _environment_ my sparkling can cope with!" Starscream hissed. "He _likes_ his toys scattered around."

Soundwave removed a laser blade from his subspace and held it out to Starscream. "Query; was this also a toy?"

Starscream snatched the tool back quickly. "He wouldn't have touched it," he muttered defensively. "He knows better."

"Sparkling; has no concept of danger."

"Maybe _yours_ don't-!"

"Starscream, you are struggling. And your sparkling is suffering for it," Soundwave stalked him across the room.

"He's not _suffering_ ,, he's just ...a little dramatic sometimes." Starscream held Freefall defensively closer. "I was taking care of him just fine before Megatron came back."

"A sparkling cannot be raised in secret. Locked in a room. Hidden away, unsocialised and trapped."

Starscream looked down at the top of Freefall's little head. "...He likes it down here."

"Starscream," Soundwave began, in one of _those_ tones.

"You're going to tell him, aren't you?" Starscream whipped around and hissed. "Megatron."

Soundwave gave him a very serious look. "Megatron must know, not only as the sire, but as the commander of this base."

"You know he's just going to ship him off to Cybertron," Starscream tightened his arms around Freefall.

"Is that not preferable?"

"Not if he makes me go with him!"

"Then remain here."

"And leave my sparkling with Shockwave?!"

Soundwave stared silently. "I cannot allow this to continue."

"Then _help_ me!" Starscream implored, turning Freefall around so Soundwave had to look at the dopey sparkling's dumb little face. "I know you love sparklings, Soundwave."

Soundwave looked like he might be seriously considering it. Starscream started bouncing his sparkling enticingly in front of the tape-deck. Freefall himself wriggled in confusion, his arms waving about.

Soundwave seemed to deflate at the sight of the sparkling's vacant little face. "Megatron is already suspicious. I will not help you conceal the sparkling's existence from him, but neither will I reveal it."

Relief washed over Starscream, "And you'll...?"

"I will assist in care-taking studies when I can," Soundwave relented.

Starscream pushed the sparkling into his arms. Soundwave's visor brightened in surprise. "Yes! In that case, I'm long overdue a polish-"

He didn't make it two steps towards the doorway before Soundwave caught him by the wing and stopped him.

"There are some care skills you will need to be taught first."

Starscream's scowled, and sensing what he was in for, Freefall made a mournful noise.

He couldn't imagine this was going to be in anyway fun.


	3. Chapter 3

"This is humiliating," Starscream muttered, sat on the floor of his quarters with Freefall laid between his legs, occasionally kicking and flailing and trying to roll over and escape. "I know how to clean a sparkling." He tilted his head up and glared at Soundwave. "What is the point of this?!"

"How long does it take you to complete daily maintenance on your sparkling?"

"About three hours," Starscream snapped. "Because this idiot thinks I'm attacking him! The second he see's a solvent bath, he screams."

"Is that because the water is cold?"

Starscream stared at Soundwave.

"...Only a little!" He managed eventually.

Soundwave lifted his head towards the ceiling and made a noise like a groan.

"Query; if I upended a basin full of cold water over your helm, would you respond adversely?"

Starscream's gaze darkened, "I'd remove your internal parts and show them to you."

"Precisely." Soundwave lifted the basin he had filled and plonked it down in front of Starscream. Steam was rising from the solvent -it was a watery solution that gave off a pleasant fragrance. Starscream scooped Freefall up and began to lower him in.

Soundwave held up a hand.

"What _now_?" Starscream demanded, dodging the tiny hands grabbing for his face.

"Test the water."

"Why?" Starscream brought Freefall back to his chest so his weight wouldn't be such a strain on his arms. "You said it needed to be warm."

"If it is too hot he will scream anyway. He is more delicate than you or I."

Starscream eyed Soundwave resentfully, but dipped a finger into the basin. His temperature gauge read it at thirty degrees celsius. Nothing even a sparkling as fussy as Freefall could complain about. He hefted him again and carefully lowered him into the basin. Freefall's pedes dipped below the water line, and he didn't scream.

But he did start splashing and kicking like a lunatic.

Starscream shielded his face and glared at Soundwave. "How do I stop this?!"

"You do not," Soundwave dropped to his knees beside the basin and dipped his hand into the water solution, flicking some of it up to splash Freefall back. He squealed with laughter and kicked about even more enthusiastically. Starscream scowled.

"Great Soundwave. Like he needs encouragement."

"Sparklings need to play," Soundwave began to stand, gesturing for Starscream to take his place at Freefall's side. "It is necessary for sparklings to bond with their creators, and their sires."

Starscream splashed Freefall back halfheartedly, huffing a disbelieving laugh, "We'd sooner see the war end than we would Megatron goofing off with a sparkling."

Soundwave said nothing, content to sit back and watch Starscream fight back a smile as Freefall grabbed his hand to stop him splashing. Merciless, Starscream used his other hand to splash, giving the little brat a taste of his own medicine.

"Not so fun when you're on the receiving end, is it?" He gloated, despite Freefall's obvious enjoyment.

"After this," Soundwave began, attracting their attention, twin pairs of red optics staring at him. "We shall discuss bedtime."

Freefall made a mournful noise, and Starscream flicked water at Soundwave instead.

Freefall started to laugh again.

* * *

Soundwave woke Starscream before Freefall could the next morning, repeatedly pressing the door-com. Starscream moaned and rolled off the berth, stooping to re-cover Freefall's snoozing frame with the sheets before going to answer it. He squinted through half-functioning optics at the tall blue mech in his doorway.

"Are you punishing me?"

Soundwave stepped past him and invited himself in, "I am here to help you."

Starscream found that hard to believe. He followed Soundwave, who seemed to have some sort of inbuilt internal targeting system when it came to sparklings, and had managed to pinpoint Freefall's hidden location amongst the mess of berth covers. A little fist poked out as Freefall began to rouse, and Starscream stood back with his arms folded as Soundwave bent over the berth and pulled away the covers, and with a gentleness that somehow suited him, lifted Freefall out.

"I will fuel him."

Starscream snorted and flopped back into his now empty berth.

"Fine by me," he mumbled into the pillows.

He turned his head to watch Soundwave sit in a chair by his desk, keeping Freefall in his arms. He removed a cube from his subspace but rather than shove a straw in and have Freefall muddle through it himself, Soundwave held the cube and guided him, making sure he didn't fuel too fast or too much. Freefall's little hands grabbed at the cube to try and tip it up and increase the flow, but Soundwave brushed him away gently.

"He can fuel himself," Starscream called, annoyed at the babying.

"He shouldn't," Soundwave said gently, stroking Freefall's fat little cheek as he fuelled. "This method will soothe him back to recharge."

Starscream watched Freefall's optics grow heavy as he drank. He felt himself relax too at the sight.

An undefinable amount of time later, Starscream felt the covers shift next to him. He stirred, and saw blue armour carefully settling Freefall back into the berth with him. He muttered something vague that could have been a thanks, and rolled closer to his warm, cozy sparkling. No stickiness, no wailing.

He heard the door close as Soundwave left.

Having a second set of servos to help him out wasn't that bad after all.

So long as those servos weren't Megatron's.

* * *

Megatron didn't fail to notice the marked change in Starscream's attitude since the cycle before. Perhaps the punishment of monitor duty had reminded him of his place and his privileged role in this faction. Perhaps he'd finally gotten over whatever hissy fit he had been throwing over the course of Megatron's absence?

When the seeker arrived in the Command Centre that morning, he was the old Starscream again, the Starscream Megatron had left before his trip to Cybertron. Gleaming and polished, smelling heavenly and looking deadly, he strutted in through the doors and didn't slink off to hide behind monitors, instead coming to stand proudly beside Megatron, huffing and scoffing at the Autobot intel reports.

Megatron eyed him appreciatively, watching wings lift and settle, twitch and flick. Starscream glanced at him and glared, but the curl of his mouth was less disgusted and more smug. Megatron frowned back, lifting his chin high.

"My quarters," he leant past Starscream to press a button on one of the monitors, his mouth subtly brushing by the seeker's audial. "Tonight."

He felt Starscream shudder, felt him lean back against him. Starscream was always so very easy to lure in. He wanted it. He wanted Megatron. He wanted-

"I- I'm busy tonight."

Megatron paused, then drew back to look at his face. "Oh?" He said slowly. "What with?"

Starscream's teeth clenched together. "None of your _business_."

Megatron's frown deepened in suspicion, "What you do here, in my base, _is_ my business."

"My personal time is _mine_ ," Starscream growled, "So forgive me if I don't always want to waste it on _you_."

Megatron drew back, frustration mounting at the rejection. A month wasn't at all the longest they had gone without... seeing one another, but they were no longer hindered by distance, or injury, or an argument, and-

He stroked a finger, from a shivering wing tip all the way down to the hinges on Starscream back, and leaned over his shoulder. "What about on _my_ time?"

Starscream paused, his expression contemplative, "Well... it would certainly beat staring at these intel reports."

Megatron smiled.

* * *

An hour later Megatron buried his nose into Starscream's throat cables, nuzzling and mouthing at him for more. Starscream turned his head away with an undone noise, hands on Megatron's chest weakly trying to push him off. There -unfortunately for Starscream- wasn't much room to put distance between their frames in the cramped supply closet.

"I have to go," he protested halfheartedly, leaning into the kisses, optical shutters fluttering in delight.

"You don't," Megatron disregarded, keeping him pinned to the shelves, hands roaming his stunning, and surprisingly more sensitive frame. He couldn't get enough of him. Of his gasps and squirms and that excited little mewl of ' _Megatron~_!' when his turbines were played with.

Starscream stroked Megatron's chest but shook his head, "Good- _bye_ , Megatron."

Megatron released a noise quite someways beneath his dignity, one that made Starscream's optics brighten and his smirk widen, one that made Megatron think, for one hopeful second, he would linger in the musky humid little closet with him and waste the day away doing each other, instead of doing their duties.

They had been apart for a _month_ , Megatron reasoned to himself. They were allowed to shirk a few duties.

Starscream was suddenly, uncharacteristically responsible today though.

He planted one last, long, heated kiss on Megatron, before drawing away with a smack of lips to palm at the door control. It swept open, unfortunately timed to reveal their presence inside the closet to a full trine of passing seekers. Starscream wasn't at all bothered when they stopped short at the sight of them, walking into one another with a clank of armour as he stepped out and waved over his shoulder to Megatron in farewell.

Megatron lingered in the closest, scowling.

The seekers were still staring.

"Get back to work!" He snapped, watching them jump and hurry off with a chorus of frightened, confused noises.

Honestly, like they'd never seen a couple utilise a closet for interfacing before.

* * *

Soundwave was waiting in Starscream's quarters for him, and despite his apparent brilliance with sparklings, Freefall was wailing, fat tears of coolant dripping down his little face. Starscream made a broken noise and came forward to take him quickly.

"You're late," Soundwave was not in the best of moods.

"I was busy," Starscream snapped, wincing when he took Freefall's substantial weight into his arms. Primus, he was heavier every cycle. Soon he'd be weighing as much as- as much as _Megatron_ probably.

"You were with Megatron," Soundwave accused.

Starscream stared in surprise. How had he-? Oh, but of course. Dirty spy probably had his cassettes watching him. He quickly covered Freefall's innocent little audials. "How do you know that?"

"A trine of seekers saw you engaged in an interface together in a supply closet on the third deck."

Starscream's cheeks were like furnaces. "They didn't see us- they- they saw me _come out_ of the supply closet and jumped to baseless conclusions! If you _must_ know, I was looking for - for a spare datapad!"

"With Megatron."

"Megatron was looking for a fusion cell," Starscream invented hurriedly, "it was just a coincidence we were in there together."

"For an hour."

Starscream's lips pursed together, "...It was a _big_ closet. There were a _lot_ of shelves to search."

"I see," Soundwave intoned emotionlessly. "Perhaps you should inform Megatron of the existence of his current sparkling, before attempting to create a second."

"I'll have you know I took precautions!" Starscream bellowed, dropping the act.

"The same precautions taken to prevent this one?" Soundwave pointed to Freefall's now smiling face tucked under Starscream's chin.

Starscream scowled. "That was Megatron's fault."

"And so was this dalliance?"

"Yes!" Starscream huffed, "I said I was busy! _I_ was trying to be responsible."

"And yet you were lured into the supply closet regardless," Soundwave's monotone was somehow dripping with disappointment.

"I don't need to explain myself to you," Starscream huffed, hitching Freefall higher and stalking toward the storage unit he kept the cubes in. He sat down on the desk chair heavily, and juggled Freefall in his arms as he removed a cube. His sparkling wriggled in excitement at the sight of it, mouth open and 'ahh'ing as he waited to receive.

Starscream placed the cube at his mouth just to shut him up, turning back to Soundwave. "What do you care anyway?"

"I care for the wellbeing of the sparkling."

Starscream rolled his optics. "If you really cared you'd want the same thing I did. For this little moron here not to get shipped off planet."

"I do not believe Megatron would send his offspring away."

"You don't know him as well as I do," Starscream huffed, watching Freefall swallow down the fuel greedily. "He acts like a power-mad lunatic, but he's a self-sacrificing, sentimental old fool. If he thought his sparkling would be safer on Cybertron, that's where he would send him."

"Then compose a case as to why it would be safer on Earth," Soundwave suggested, moving towards the door. "And refuse to let him think otherwise."

"How the Pit would I do that? This planet is a scrap-hole. Between the humans and the Autobots being here-"

"You are also here," Soundwave pointed at him. "And you would never let anything happen to your sparkling."

Starscream scoffed, "You seem to have mustered a lot of faith in me all of a sudden."

"You are a creator now," Soundwave reminded him. "It is in your nature to be protective."

Starscream hummed, and looked down at Freefall as Soundwave left, frowning at his sparkling's stupid, fuel-smeared little face.

"He's right you know," he said quietly, stroking a sticky cheek. "I may not be the best creator, but I can be the most protective."

Freefall squirmed and hiccuped, prompting Starscream to bring him up to his chest and pat his back. "Don't purge," he warned, "I don't want either of us to stink of regurgitated energon when I take you to meet your sire for the first time. He won't be impressed."

Freefall, just to be contrary, did exactly that. Right down Starscream's wing.


	4. Chapter 4

After the puking incident it became abundantly clear to Starscream that Freefall was in no way ready to meet his sire. He needed to be clean and reasonable and _quiet_ , the perfect sparkling, a sparkling so brilliant Megatron couldn't possibly turn either if them away. A sparkling that would be a joy to parent.

Freefall, smelly and sticky and loud as he was, wasn't quite there yet.

"Clearly it's going to be up to me to butter your sire up," Starscream told him, riffling through his drawers for what he needed. "And if it's one thing I'm good at, it's-"

He looked up and cut himself off, realising this probably wasn't an appropriate conversation to have with a sparkling, let alone one about their own sire.

"Just ...trust me," Starscream muttered. "I know how to put him in a reasonable mood."

Freefall picked up a discarded datapad and started chewing in it's corner, no longer paying attention. Starscream went back to rifling through his desk drawer. Eventually he found what he had been looking for and blew off the dust with a grimace.

No wonder he had gotten sparked with Freefall. When was the last time he used a diaphragm?

Muttering to himself at his own forgetfulness -but mostly Megatron's habit of initiating things when he least expected it- he hiked a leg up onto his chair and pinched the silicone between his fingers to insert it. He had lied to Soundwave about having used protection earlier when he had been with Megatron, and though it was unlikely he would get himself sparked again so soon after having Freefall, it wasn't worth tempting fate.

He was about to open his panel to insert it into his valve, when he looked up and found two curious optics staring at him. He hesitated. Freefall's processor was so basic he was unlikely he know _what_ he was watching, but still-

"Look away," Starscream snapped.

Freefall's big optics blinked, and continued to stare.

With a huff of irritation Starscream brought his leg down from the chair and marched back to the berth so he could turn Freefall around to face the wall. "There."

He went back to the chair and reassumed his position, only to look up and find Freefall twisting awkwardly to watch over his shoulder. When their optics met, Freefall smiled.

Starscream scowled.

"Fine. Have it your way," Starscream muttered, stomping back to him and lifting him up under the arms. "Back in the wall you go."

Freefall made an excited noise when Starscream elbowed the lose wall-panel open and hoisted his heavy sparkling into the space provided. He plonked Freefall inside, and quickly bent to retrieve the wall-panel to shut the sparking away before he could roll around and make a bid for freedom. It clicked shut, and inside Freefall banged something and shrieked excitedly.

"Moron," Starscream muttered, and lifted his leg, opened his panel, pinched the diaphragm, and slipped it inside. It had been a while since he had practiced safe-interfacing (there was a _war_ going on and he had other priorities) so he struggled to position it correctly so it covered his gestation seal. And with Freefall banging away inside the wall distracting him-

He jumped when the wall-panel fell to the floor with a loud clatter, Freefall following it with an even louder _clunk_.

Starscream gasped in horror, diaphragm's wonky position forgotten, and rushed to pick him up. "Primus-!"

Freefall lay on his back on the floor, looking surprised but otherwise unharmed. Starscream lifted him with soft reassuring noises, bringing him to his front and running his hands over his tiny frame, looking for dents and scratches. Freefall wriggled in irritation, nose crinkling at the nonsense being cooed at him.

"Bah!" He protested, kicking his stubby legs to get down.

"Oh for-" Starscream gave up. "You're like a flying _brick_." He placed Freefall on the desk in front of him, where the sparkling then rolled onto his belly and crawled across it to get at more datapads to destroy.

Starscream quickly snapped his panel shut, made himself presentable and scooped him up again. "Come on. Your uncle Soundwave is going to have _so much fun_ with you tonight," he cooed sarcastically. "But not half as much fun as I'm going to have with your sire."

Freefall -generally unhappy _whenever_ Starscream picked him up- started squirming again and whining. Which was going to make transporting him through the base to Soundwave's quarters without drawing anyone's notice somewhat difficult. Starscream couldn't physically fit Freefall in his cockpit, and hadn't been able to since the cycle he had offlined, so hiding him would be difficult.

He spied a pillow on his berth, and his processor sparked with an idea.

"You don't mind dark spaces, do you?" He asked the sparkling.

Freefall blew an angry raspberry.

* * *

When Starscream arrived at Soundwave's quarters with an armful of wriggling pillowcase, the faction's Third In Command looked tempted to punch him.

"Unacceptable," he intoned, grasping Starscream by the arm and tugging him inside his quarters.

"How else was I supposed to get him here?" Starscream protested, stumbling into the centre of the room and quickly dropping to his knees so he could shake Freefall out of his fabric prison. His sparkling tumbled out onto the floor, looking shocked. Soundwave quickly rushed forward to pick him up and bring him to his chest.

"Oh, he's fine," Starscream snapped. "He just fell twenty feet and nothing happened then."

Soundwave's visor snapped towards him. "He _what_?"

Starscream waved his hands dismissively. "Nothing. Nothing. He's _fine_. Obviously. Very sturdy ...just like his _daddy_ ," he muttered resentfully, thinking of all the unfortunate accidents that _should_ have killed Megatron but hadn't.

"Query; what are you doing here?" Soundwave demanded, bouncing Freefall lightly when the sparkling began to fuss and squirm, making tiny fists and waving them like he was challenging Soundwave to fisticuffs. "He should be recharging."

"A job for you then." Starscream smiled and cocked his hip. "I'm busy tonight."

"You are not."

"Yes I am! I'm meeting with Megatron."

"Soundwave; was not informed of this meeting. Meeting; is absent from the schedule."

"Because it's not _that_ kind of meeting, Soundwave," Starscream rolled his optics.

Soundwave extended Freefall, "Then take your sparkling with you and introduce him to his sire."

Starscream veered back, not wanting Freefall's sticky hands to smudge his polish before he had the chance to charm Megatron with his glamorous looks. "No, that's not part of the plan. Megatron needs ...warming up a little first. I can't just spring a sparkling on him."

Soundwave looked perplexed.

"He needs to be in a good mood," Starscream scoffed.

"Megatron; will be in a good mood when presented with his sparkling."

"Maybe. Until his sparking pukes all over him, screams in his face, and breaks everything he cares about," Starscream muttered. "I know it's hard for _you_ to understand, Soundwave, but not everyone is as charmed by this lumpy bundle of 'joy' as you are."

Soundwave held Freefall closer, as though to protect him from Starscream's harsh words. "Query; How long will you be?"

"I'll be back by morning."

Soundwave's visor darkened. "Freefall will not respond well to spending a full night cycle absent of your company."

Starscream grit his denta. Of course the little monster wouldn't. And here he had rather been hoping to spend at least one more night in the big warm berth of his commander, wrapped in strong arms and pressed to a powerful, hard chest. No tiny fingers in his armour seams, of little feet kicking him.

"Fine," he relented, moving towards the door. "I'll pick him up afterwards."

Soundwave obviously wasn't happy with this situation, but he nodded. "Remember to use protection-"

"I _am using protection!_ " Starscream snarled, crossing over the threshold, "Stop lecturing me!"

Soundwave followed him, leaning out of the doorway with a confused Freefall sat on his hip. "Do not take that tone with me."

Starscream flipped him a rude gesture and then sprinted down the corridor with a shriek when the larger mech looked like he might give chase.

* * *

Megatron seemed surprised to see him so soon after their encounter in the supply closer had been cut short, but he allowed Starscream entry without protest, stepping out of the doorway to watch him pass. Starscream didn't miss how his optics tracked up and down his frame appreciatively, before lingering low on his back, ogling his wings or aft, Starscream couldn't tell. Knowing Megatron, probably both.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Megatron purred nonchalantly, following at a stroll.

Starscream, sadly, wasn't going to be able to play their little games tonight. He was on a time crunch. He turned around and plonked himself on the end of Megatron's berth without ceremony, bouncing lightly on the padding.

"Spike me."

Megatron blinked, and Starscream could almost see the processor resetting behind those dark smouldering optics. After a moment's recalibration, Megatron's mouth curled at the corners.

"Happily," he purred and grabbed Starscream around the backs of his thighs and shoved him higher up the berth. Starscream landed on his back and found himself quickly pinned and accosted with strut-melting kisses.

His mind didn't often wander when he was with Megatron like this -as the large mech was overwhelming, both in presence and to his sensors. He smelt of rich iron and his purring engines sounded like the universe's most contented cyber-cat, but when Megatron tilted his head up and looked at Starscream from below the rim of his ugly stupid helmet, all Starscream could think of was Freefall's scowling little face when he'd left him with Soundwave.

He shuttered his optics, looking away.

"Something wrong?" Megatron murmured.

"Yes." Starscream's brow creased at the unwelcome pause. "Aren't you supposed to be fragging me by now?"

Megatron made a noise of exasperation and sat back on his heels. Starscream watched him with hooded optics as his codpiece transformed away and he began to massage at his spike-housing. Megatron's spike emerged into his hand, thick and ready. He gave it a few cursory tugs and Starscream let his thighs splay open a little wider, and retracted his panel.

Megatron's brow arched, his head tilting.

"What?" Starscream frowned.

"You look a little different," Megatron commented, worryingly vague in regards to what was 'different'.

Starscream wondered just how much time Megatron had spent staring at his valve in the past if he could immediately tell when it looked different. Then Starscream remembered with a twinge of self-consciousness just _what_ that valve had been through this past month. He glanced at Megatron's big head again, and shuddered at the memory of Freefall's emergence.

Megatron was watchful, concerned. "What is it?" He asked softly.

Starscream shook himself out of it, snapping his legs closed again to prevent further study of his array. "Nothing."

Megatron grunted and began to settle over him, drawing Starscream's legs back open with hands on either knee, "You're in a tricky mood tonight."

"Merely impatient," Starscream corrected, "I asked for a spiking, and here I'm having a conversation instead."

Megatron grunted resentfully and gripped his spike, steering it forward. Starscream slithered a hand between them and spread his folds with two fingers, shivering when Megatron began rubbing the soft broad head of his spike over the sensitive mesh. He let it nose around the quivering rim, and Starscream gasped and bore down on it when when the head popped past the rim.

"Ah-"

Megatron tucked his head against his neck and sighed, long and low, hips rolling forwards to press deeper.

"Megatron-!" The designation burst out of Starscream's vocaliser. He threw his hands around the larger mech's chassis and clung, his legs lulling open so Megatron could fit against him closer. His hips were flush to Starscream's aft. Big hands grasped his thighs and tugged him forwards still, and Starscream's optics rolled around his helm when he felt Megatron hilt himself with a grunt.

He whispered a softer, reverent, "Megatron~" and he leant into the mouth kissing at his neck.

They lay still a moment, savouring their connection, until Megatron grew impatient and began to rock. Starscream hummed along, letting his forehead drop to Megatron's shoulder, claws kneading at Megatron's armour.

The creaks of the berth's frame grew louder as Megatron's rocking motions grew more insistent, the larger mech picking up spread and force until he was thrusting into Starscream, giving him what he came for. Starscream's claws dug into Megatron's back and he clung on, gasping nonsense at every stab of Megatron's spike through his soft valve.

Megatron's squeezed his thighs and began to use them as leverage, hauling Starscream into each thrust. His spike ploughed deep, dragging across sensors and callipers, making Starscream's toe pedes curl, some strokes reaching deep enough inside him to nudge the top of his valve, and the kiss of Megatron's spike to his gestation seal sent electric pulses of pleasure shooting through his frame.

He overloaded with a wail, throwing his legs up and around Megatron's frame, moaning listlessly through Megatron's continued pounding. It was only when Megatron's spike bumped his gestation seal a second time and splashed it with hot pulses of transfluid as he overloaded in kind, that Starscream realised something was wrong.

The diaphragm.

He froze as Megatron snarled through his intense overload, the larger mech finally holding deep to pump him full of transfluid. Starscream cursed sharply -a noise that was dismissed by Megatron as a sound of pleasure- when he realised his attempt at contraception had failed miserably.

He swallowed thickly, listening to Megatron's hot, panting vents begin to even out against his neck. He shifted, and sensing his discomfort, Megatron pulled out. Starscream could feel Megatron's damp, softened spike rest against his hip as his partner resettled atop him.

Curious as to how this could have happened, Starscream wandered his fingers down and pressed one into himself, confirming his suspicions.

Stupid Freefall falling out of the wall had distracted him from properly securing the diaphragm. The useless thing had slipped.

Megatron stirred atop him, "Distracted again. What now?"

"...Nothing," Starscream quickly flashed him a smile and began to rise onto his elbows. With Megatron's substantial weight still lying on top of him though, it made it difficult. "Could you-?"

Megatron wrapped arms around him more securely though, giving no indication that he was willing to let Starscream skip the post-coital cuddle and 'hit and quit' him.

"That was a long month I was away, " Megatron said pointedly.

Starscream nodded, "And I plan to more than make up for the time we lost, dear leader, but-"

Needy as ever, Megatron's arms tightened. Starscream grunted in discomfort.

"Megatron!" He hissed. Stupid, selfish old mech. Didn't he know Starscream had other duties? Other responsibilities ?!

"Stay with me," Megatron murmured, nuzzling into the side of Starscream's head.

Starscream's resolve wilted. "Well I, I could stay a little while. I suppose."

He was a terrible, selfish parent, but he was allowed one night off, wasn't he?

Soundwave was going to kill him.


	5. Chapter 5

Starscream couldn't quite place himself the next morning. He woke naturally, his chrono ticking over and reaching the hour. It would be dawn on the surface above, but even the midday sun couldn't breach the depths of the ocean, so Starscream had no idea why Soundwave insisted on acclimatising everyone to the same maddeningly short Earth cycle the natives used.

Starscream blinked his optics online and found himself staring at a grey, rusted bulkhead. He inhaled deeply, filling his vents with stuffy, warm air, but his motivational software was struggling to get him up and moving. The berth was warm and the padding, worn and lumpy though it was, was comfortable enough to keep him trapped.

The quiet of the room was otherwise breached by the heavy breathing of the goliath next to him. Starscream listened closely to Megatron's slow, even inhales and exhales. The covers tossed over them both would rise and fall minutely with every one of Megatron's deep breaths.

Starscream glanced at the bulkhead again, shifting lazily. He really should get up. There was something jabbing him in the back of his processor telling him to get up. But why bother? What would he be late for? His early shift on the bridge? Soundwave didn't have the authority to penalise him for tardiness and Megatron -he knew- wouldn't mind if he lazed the morning away in berth with him.

Starscream rolled, stretching arms out above his helm. His knuckles grazed the berth's headboard above, and he glanced up to take in the new claw marks he'd left in the dense metal the night before, and the old ones from many other nights in the past.

All he could see of Megatron next to him was his broad shoulder and the back of his distinctive helm. Starscream sat up and let the covers pool in his lap, wondering where it was best to poke the sleeping giant to wake him in the most unpleasant way. He leant over him and glimpsed at his slumbering face; optics offline and derma smoothed of all lines of stress and war. He looked younger. He looked like-

Freefall!

Starscream flung the covers off and leapt from the berth. His fast movements roused Megatron but prompted little more than a grunt out of him before he rolled onto his front and continued snoozing into the pillow.

By then Starscream was already stumbling into the cupboard sized wash-racks, wincing at the pinching pain of something internal pulling somewhere between his hips. He hopped his way inside and palmed the door closed, knocking his wing against the wall with another hiss.

What the Pit was the point of having a private wash-rack when it was this small?! Megatron could barely fit himself in it, and on the one occasion he had dragged Starscream inside with him for activities that most certainly did not involve getting clean, they'd managed to jam themselves in together so tightly they had almost had to resort to hailing a Constructicon to prise them free with a crowbar.

Thankfully, a well placed kick from Starscream had freed Megatron from his wedged position in the doorway and no one had bourn witness to the scene. But never again. Starscream had forbidden Megatron from ever making an attempt to follow him in here- no matter how good he might look wet and glistening with solvent.

It meant he could shower in peace.

He activated the shower and used his fingers to rinse away the night before's telling marks. The solvent turned a silvery colour when he washed between his sore thighs, and he grimaced in distaste. Some marks he couldn't remove, like the bite on his wing and the scuffs of matte grey paint all over the insides of his thighs. There was a row of finger indentations on his waist too, where Megatron had held him...

He glared over his wing at the door, behind which Megatron slumbered away obliviously. Just because that crunchy old trash can had no respect for his own frame didn't mean he could get away with treating Starscream's just as carelessly.

The Starscream of two months ago would have barged back into the berth-room and kicked Megatron awake and _demand_ he explain what gave him the right to mar his paint like this, but the current Starscream had a needy sparkling to pick up from what was going to be an incredibly angry sitter.

And what he really wanted to know was what had crawled up Soundwave's tailpipe and died to turn him into such an overbearing, judgmental, square. Hadn't he ever been young? Hadn't he ever had urges?!

Scratch that, Starscream rinsed his face under the spray. He didn't want to think about Soundwave's urges. It was like trying to imagine a databank with a libido.

He lifted a leg to let the solvent rinse through the armour seams and put out a hand to balance himself against the wall when that misaligned _something_ pulled between his hips again. He lowered his leg again with a hiss and reached for his valve. He kept a wary optic on the door, lest Megatron unwisely come look for him and find him in the middle of the highly undignified act of riffling inside himself. Eventually he managed to hook a finger around his diaphragm and pull it free. He rinsed it under the solvent then slipped it into his subspace, but the odd ache inside him didn't go.

He swallowed, a terrible sinking feeling growing in the pits of his tanks.

He thought back to how he had felt after the night Freefall had come into creation. Sore, and tried, and bloated- not far from how he felt now. Perhaps it was psychosomatic. His frame couldn't possibly be productive enough to already be prepared to make another. Not after what Freefall had done to him.

He turned off the solvent and smacked his wing against the wall again when he turned to exit. It was cramped and full of thick steam from the solvent and he was already hot. He couldn't tolerate the space any longer to dry himself off. He would simply have to leave it, and deal with the water marks later.

Back in the berth-room Megatron was still recharging, spread out like a starfish. Starscream was reminded of how he would wake to find Freefall in a similar position. But at least Megatron had the decency to stay on his side of the berth. Freefall was considerably more selfish.

Oh Primus, he though, tank swooping low, bringing with it a wave of nausea. He could barely cope with _one_ sparkling. What was he going to do if there was another on the way?!

He swallowed and stumbled out of the berth-room, leaving Megatron to laze the morning away on his own. He would be grumpy when he woke to find himself alone and probably think Starscream was playing some sort of manipulative game with him, but that was a problem for later. For now, Starscream had a sparkling to pick up, and some wise advice to seek.

* * *

The halls of the base were quiet in the mornings. The first shift was always scheduled for dawn's first light, but Decepticons by nature were tardy and disrespectful, and if a mech wasn't personally chased out of their quarters by Soundwave's looming judgment they weren't likely to make it to their patrols on time. And this morning Starscream knew for a fact that Soundwave was otherwise occupied.

He entered the code for Soundwave's quarters -a code that had been passive aggressively sent to him late last night whilst he had been entwined with his leader as a hint for him to get back and parent his offspring- and poked his helm around the doorway when it swept open.

The room was dark and quiet. It would normally imply the occupants were still asleep, but Starscream knew better. Soundwave was going to be waiting for him, and he was using the shadows as cover to better intimidate him. Starscream tip toed inside, on high alert. He checked his blind spots but found them Soundwave-free. And on the berth, in it's centre, lay a little Freefall-shaped lump.

Something seemed to shift and set in Starscream's chest, like a piece of him had fallen out of alignment in his sparkling's absence. He strode forwards quickly to reclaim his little one without a care for what Soundwave-related danger may reside in the darkness of the room.

His hands had barely touched the berth covers shielding Freefall from the chill in the air when a low, slowly droning voice intoned, "Starscream; explain yourself."

Starscream bit back a vulgar curse and snapped upright. He turned at the waist to glare at Soundwave, who had, as he'd predicted, been waiting for him in the darkest corner of the room.

"What do you want, Soundwave? A credit for your sparkling-sitting services? How about I buy you bottle of Swindle's finest and we'll call it even."

"Staying out all night; unacceptable behaviour," Soundwave stepped out of the shadows, and though he was only a fraction taller than Starscream, he seemed to loom high above him.

Starscream felt his wings droop at the menacing display, but resented being made to feel like an unruly mechling by Soundwave of all mechs. He defiantly stuck them back up into the air, along with his nose. "It's not like I was off clubbing. I was with Megatron."

"Megatron; unaware of his sparkling's existence?" Soundwave leant threateningly closer.

Starscream leaned back so far he ended up tipping over and dropping to the berth. He shuffled back when Soundwave advanced again, and his frantic movements began to rouse Freefall. Grumpy little noises came from under shifting covers. Starscream drew them away to retrieve the heavy, lazy lump of armour, hoisting the dozing, squirming frame under the arms.

"That subject didn't come up," Starscream explained, grunting with exertion as he brought Freefall's dense frame to his chest. He felt even heavier. "Primus, what did feed him?"

"It was your responsibility to raise the subject," Soundwave ignored the accusation and stayed on subject, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest. "If the subject of your mutual creation did not arise, what _did_ you spend your evening doing?"

"Soundwave!" Starscream covered his sparkling's innocent little audials. He dropped his voice to a harsh whisper. "You _know_ what we were doing."

"Protection; used?"

Starscream should have just blurted 'yes' because he _had_ taken precautions. Precautions that looked to have failed miserably, but precautions nonetheless. The pause was too much of a giveaway though.

Soundwave's visor illuminated to a bright deadly crimson. " **Starscream** ," his monotone was loud and judgmental.

"Can't go you five seconds without judging me!" Starscream demanded, emotions building. "I am _trying_ , isn't that enough?! I didn't mean for this to happen," he gestured to Freefall, "I didn't mean for last night to happen either. But the universe _conspires against me_ , Soundwave. I'm it's favourite running joke!"

Soundwave was silent after the outburst. Starscream felt his optics start to sting and looked away, choosing to focus instead on the confused little face peering up at him. He stroked a soft cheek, and sniffed.

The berth next to him dipped.

He snapped his gaze up and glared at Soundwave through watery optics, "What the Pit do you-?"

"What happened?"

Starscream stubbornly kept his mouth shut, ducking his gaze again and refusing to look at Soundwave. He felt a hand lift to his shoulder, warm and so bizarrely comforting that he couldn't bring himself to shrug it off.

"Starscream."

Starscream shuttered his optics in mortification, hardly able to even comprehend that he was going to have to tell Soundwave of all mechs, that he, that he was- "I - I might be sparked again."

Soundwave's hand felt heavy on his shoulder, heavy like the weight of the entire planet's judgment resided in it. He winced, and risked a glance at the silent lieutenant. Soundwave wasn't even looking at him, and seemed instead to be staring into the middle distance. His visor was a dim, fearful orange.

Great. He was broken.

"'Might be'?" Soundwave repeated

Starscream swallowed, lifting a hand to his chest. He could feel the burning heat of his spark chamber through the armour. _That_ wasn't normal. Neither was the tenderness of his internals, or the weak ache of his gears. He shook his head, lifting his chin, "But, it's unlikely," he said, voice feeling stronger. "I just had a sparkling. It's too soon." He looked at Soundwave. "...Tell me it's too soon."

Soundwave said nothing.

Starscream grabbed his wrist and squeezed it. "Soundwave, tell me it's too-!"

Soundwave unpeeled his fingers from his wrists before he could dent the third-in-command's armour. "Suggestion; Medbay."

Starscream laughed out loud because that was the stupidest idea he had ever heard. Freefall jumped in his arms, surprised at the noise. "And do what?! Tell _Bonecrusher_ I think I'm sparked? That'll stay secret for long-"

"No more secrets."

"No more- Soundwave, I've nothing _but_ secrets!" he stood abruptly, forgetting Freefall was in his lap. Soundwave caught the sparkling before he was knocked to the floor and brought him into his own lap.

"Secret one!" Starscream turned and pointed to Freefall. "Secret two!" He thumbed back at his own chest.

"And how many more will there be?" Soundwave asked darkly.

"I didn't know," Starscream scoffed. "How many more times will Megatron be seducing me into his berth?"

"It takes two mechs to create a sparkling."

"No, it takes one incorrigible warlord and his stupid seductive charms to make a sparkling," Starscream argued. "This is his fault. If _he_ didn't overload, I would never have-"

"Starscream," Soundwave blurted out a scandalised noise, hastily covering Freefall's audials.

"Oh, he can barely recognise his own name!" Starscream protested, "He doesn't know what that means." He leant close to Freefall to prove it, cooing, "You don't know what an overload is, do you? Of course you don't. You don't know what _anyone's_ talking about."

Freefall began to laugh.

"See," Starscream straightened. "Clueless. Stupid even."

Soundwave looked like he had aged fifty thousand years in the last five minutes. "This cannot be left unaddressed."

Starscream clasped his hands behind his back, "I know, which is why was I thinking-"

(Soundwave sighed heavily before he'd even finished)

"-that maybe _you_ could take this one?"

Soundwave stiffened. "And do what, exactly?"

Starscream shrugged, "I don't know, raise it as your own. Add it to the collection."

"A sparkling is not a cassette," Soundwave's monotone developed an attitude. "Their needs vary drastically."

Starscream pulled a face. "You mean those disgusting little gremlins you keep in your chest aren't even yours?"

"They are mine." Soundwave said firmly, but failed to elaborate on what that might mean.

Starscream didn't care enough to ask again. And none of this was helping with the current situation. He snorted loudly and jabbed a thumb at his own chest. "Who cares about your twisted family history anyway. What am I supposed to do here? You're supposed to be the logical thinker. The level headed lieutenant."

Soundwave didn't appear particularly flattered with his praise. "Soundwave's Advice; was not sought out when you previously carried."

Starscream rolled his optics. "Fine. I'll ask someone whose opinion I _actually_ value." He struggled to think of a name.

Soundwave waited expectedly.

"Skywarp," Starscream blurted out, then immediately regretted it. There was a reason his trine were as unaware of Freefall's existence as the rest of the faction. There wasn't a mech residing on this blasted planet that wasn't so far up Megatron's exhaust port they could see his-

"Observation," Soundwave interrupted his spiteful musing, standing with Freefall pressed protectively to his chest plating. "Starscream is jumping to conclusions. Potential sparkling; may be indigestion."

"You think I have gas in my tanks?" Starscream's optics flared indignantly. "I think I can tell the _difference_ , Soundwave."

Soundwave simply gestured for him to prove it, stepping back and levelling his gaze at Starscream's chest.

Starscream wasn't usually the sort of mech who exposed his spark to just anyone. It was private personal part of himself. Even Megatron had only seen it a handful of times. Normally just a glimpse, and usually when they were drunk. Under normal circumstances the scheming Third In Command would have been the last mech he'd allow to leer at his very life source. But it was quite obvious now that Soundwave's only interest in him was protecting Megatron's heir. Or heirs.

He could trust Soundwave.

He swallowed and opened his chest plates, looking away to hide his mild embarrassment.

He heard Soundwave step closer, and risked a glance to see the lieutenant tilting his helm contemplatively.

"Well?" He croaked, worried by Soundwave ominous silence.

Soundwave straightened back up again and exhaled, long and tired. "You are sparked," he concluded.

Starscream's moment of victory in being right and proving Soundwave wrong, didn't last long. His emotions hit a high then whooshed right back down to all time low as the gravity of the situation hit him.

He stared at the sparkling he could barely care for in Soundwave's arms, then down at his glowing spark, and the stupid little speck sitting next to it, unaware of how utterly screwed it had made it's creator.

Starscream wanted to curse and punch and scream and rage.

He closed his chest plates, cutting off the light from the joined sparks, and brought his hands up to cover his face when he felt his bottom lip wobbling threateningly.

A presence closed in and he stiffened up, but all Soundwave did was bring an arm up around his back, and draw him into a gentle embrace. Starscream leant forward and let his forehead clunk against Soundwave's shoulder in defeat. The hand on his back stroking up and down soothingly was the only thing keeping his panic at bay.

Unfortunately, he and Soundwave weren't the only two involved in this embrace.

"Bah!" Held to Soundwave's chest, Freefall was in the perfect position to slap the back of Starscream's head. Hard. 

Fragging sparklings.


	6. Chapter 6

Megatron's arm reached across the berth, searching. When his finger pads brushed cold, empty sheets he lifted his heavy head and blinked a squinting optic online to find the space beside him vacated. He let his head drop back to the pillow with a dull thump, air rushing from his vents in a deep long sigh.

Typical, as always with Starscream it was one step forward, two steps back.

A shame, he thought, rolling onto his back to glare at the ceiling. They had been close last night. Very close. Not just in the carnal, frame twisting, armour clanging intimacy that Starscream usually held him at bay with, but something _deeper_ , a connection that felt like more than the electric charge of their arrays.

Something about the abrasive, distant seeker had changed.

And with how easily Starscream had succumbed to a session of postcoital cuddling the night before, Megatron was genuinely surprised to find himself waking alone. If Starscream had been here for a meaningless frag he would have announced so proudly, and made a big show of leaving, like he always wanted Megatron to chase after him. But to sneak out in the dead of night?

Starscream hadn't done _that_ in a great many decades. He was hiding something.

" _I'm only still here because you have private showers,"_ was the lie Megatron usually woke up to when he'd open his optics and find Starscream still cocooned in his sheets. It was a lie Megatron only pretended to believe. He knew Starscream hated his shower. It was small and cramped and he always bumped his wings against the walls and his shrieks would turn _supersonic_ if Megatron dared to squeeze in with him. It was a god-awful wash-rack, which meant Starscream didn't stay for that. And he certainly didn't stay for the creaky berth springs.

Refusing to rise and face the cycle, Megatron onlined his comm and sent a message to the first mech on the night-duty call list, Ramjet, and ordered him to hold the fort for a few more hours yet. Being leader came with it's liberties.

He hailed Starscream next, requesting his return to his quarters. Starscream would be displeased at being summoned like an obedient pet, but that was a sacrifice Megatron was willing to make if it meant getting him back here. He had been away for a _month_ , and last night hadn't been nearly enough. He wasn't done with the seeker yet.

He was sat up and leant against his headboard, waiting for Starscream's return, when another message came through, this one from Soundwave's frequency.

Megatron opened the file to find an 'Unfit For Duties' Incident Report, filled in with Soundwave's blunt, to-the-point tone. And it was for Starscream.

He sat up, a frown creasing his brow. ' _Minor highly contagious virus'_ , was typed as the cause, and ' _short term quarantine_ ' as the recommended course of action. ' _Medical assessment: not advised_ '.

Not fragging likely, Megatron thought with a growl, throwing off the covers and getting up. He placed his hands on the small of his back and leaned back to stretch out the kinks and knots he had thought the night with Starscream had loosened out of him, and made for the door.

Starscream was known for pretending to be unwell to get out of his duties, or to avoid interacting with his commander, but this would be the first time he had roped someone else into doing his dirty work for him, and Soundwave no less? His two most senior officers conniving together behind his back? It was so unlikely it was almost comedic. The seeker must have somehow manipulated or blackmailed his Third.

Either way, Megatron was going to bash their heads together so hard Soundwave wasn't going to need telepathy to see inside Starscream's devious little processor.

He stormed through the base to Starscream's quarters, knowing for a fact that the 'quarantine' was a poorly conceived lie because he had spent all night with Starscream - _inside_ Starscream- and hadn't noticed any signs of an incoming virus taking affect in Starscream or himself.

He hammered on the door with his fist as his first and only warning of his arrival, but there was no panicked squawk from within. Starscream was either succumbing to the 'virus' or not at home. Megatron sent override codes to the door panel, and waited.

The door slid back to reveal an empty room.

As he suspected. The seeker was off _plotting_.

Nonetheless, he had a rare opportunity now to do some investigating.

He wandered into the room, keeping an optic on the lookout for potential booby-traps. The room was a mess (even by Starscream's standards) so it would be difficult to spot a clue even if it were lying around. There was paraphernalia everywhere, half drunk cubes on the desk, and berth sheets rumbled and falling to the floor.

Megatron lifted the sheets and shook them out across the berth out of pure habit. Something fell out of them and landed on the floor at his pedes with a squeak. He bent and picked up a plastic yellow toy. He ran an image comparison using the organic information sharing network, and came back with 'duck bath toy'.

He placed it back on the berth cautiously, just in case it was somehow a bomb. Starscream had turned stranger things explosive.

He stepped away and spotted something else. There was an empty basin just under the berth. He pushed it out with his foot, peering at it.

Starscream was certainly up to something.

He wandered over to the desk next, and spread out a stack of data-pads, looking for more information. Beneath the data- pads he found a flimsy piece of paper; biodegradable material that was easily destroyed, the best sort of thing to use when planning coops one wanted to keep secret. He pulled it out, only to find himself staring at an incomprehensible scribble. He turned it around, trying to spy any hidden messages. But no, just a scribble. He let it float back to the desk with a sigh.

No super weapon. No plots.

He should be concerned at how skilled Starscream was getting at hiding his treachery.

* * *

Starscream was a fairly closed book, and any hint of someone trying to delve deeper into his moods and motives tended to lock him down completely. Megatron had learned this many years (and many assassination attempts) ago. He knew Starscream better now, and he knew where his weak spots lay.

Megatron bypassed the Command Centre entirely that morning, seeing as he had already missed most of the morning briefs and meetings. He instead headed to the main hanger, where the airforce would be preparing to leave the base and take to the sky to practice new manoeuvres devised for the raid planned in a few days time.

Starscream, currently 'unwell' and 'quarantined', wouldn't be present. Which meant the hanger would be a disgraced mess of insubordinate seekers trying to get away with half-afting their morning work-out in his absence. Thundercracker was Starscream's chosen number two, not necessarily because he was more skilled than Skywarp in the air or at leadership, but simply because Starscream found him marginally was less annoying than Skywarp.

Which was disappointing because Skywarp's unconventional (violent) means of getting his fellow seekers in line worked far better than Thundercracker's ignored attempts at reasoning with them.

So as predicted, Megatron walked into unmitigated chaos. Two generic seekers had each other in a headlock and a dozen more were stood around them, chanting them on, _Skywarp_ amongst them.

Jaw squared, Megatron looked around for a more sensible party, but the rest of the airforce were milling about, talking amongst themselves, and Thundercracker, the _supposed_ acting second, was sat on a packing crate in the corner, typing something up on his tablet, ignoring it all. 

None of them had noticed their leader's arrival, so Megatron was free to wander right up to Thundercracker, stand over him, and clear his vocaliser loudly, waiting for him to notice he had company.

Thundercracker glanced up and dropped his tablet in his haste to stand at attention. He threw up a salute, movement a fraction too enthusiastic because he smacked himself in the helm with his own hand. He stoically ignoring the resulting clang of his helm ringing. "Sir!" He yelled.

His frightened yell drew the attention of those nearby, and the knowledge of Megatron's arrival spread like a wave across the hanger as the remaining seekers quickly snapped to attention in like.

Megatron tilted his head up and surveyed them coldly. "Thundercracker. Skywarp. Outside."

He strode for the exit, confident in their obedience. He thought he heard a muttered exchange of ' _What did you do now?!" "Nothing_!" between them, but when he turned his head to consider them, their mouths were obediently shut.

Megatron stepped out into the corridor where he could be sure they wouldn't be overheard. Thundercracker and Skywarp shuffled out after to stand in front of him, Thundercracker chewing his bottom lip and Skywarp staring at the floor.

Megatron cleared his vocaliser. "Your trine-leader has been taken ill."

Skywarp snorted.

Megatron snapped his gaze to him. Skywarp quickly rearranged his expression.

"It would appear so, sir," Thundercracker agreed quietly.

Megatron focused his attention on him. "'Appear so'? You've not seen him?"

They shared an unreadable glance. "We haven't seen much of him in a while."

Megatron frowned, his processor filling with suspicious thoughts of what it was that could be keeping Starscream so very busy. "Then perhaps you'd enlighten me as to where he is currently recovering?"

Another glance. "He's not in his quarters?" Thundercracker frowned.

Skywarp snorted again, "He's probably with S-"

Thundercracker elbowed him and caught him mid-sentence.

Megatron's hand shot out and grabbed the edge of Skywarp's wing, a place his exploits with Starscream had taught him was _very_ sensitive. Skywarp squeaked, "Soundwave! He's with Soundwave!"

Megatron released him like his armour had burned, taking a step back. " _Soundwave_?!" He spat, unable to process it. Was it true?! His most loyal of followers, his closest of friends, falling in with Starscream of all mechs?! It couldn't be.

He had to get to the bottom of this. And at the very least, he owed it to Soundwave to defend him from Starscream's bewitching manipulations.

He turned on his heel without another word, leaving Skywarp to nurse his dented wing and Thundercracker to coo over him soothingly. He would leave the airforce to their devices for now. It was his own high command had needed a thorough revaluation.

* * *

He couldn't help but feel like he'd covered enough ground to walk from one side of Earth to the other by the time he reached Soundwave's quarters. He didn't bother with announcing his presence before firing an override code at the control panel and striding in through the opening doors with a powerful sense of purpose-

-only to stop short in the doorway when he found Starscream staring back at him from the berth. _Soundwave's_ berth.

Megatron inhaled sharply, chest flooding with furious, burning betrayal as his processor jumped to every worst conclusion , "You-!"

"Lord Megatron," Soundwave's dull drone ended his betrayed bellow before it could even begin. Megatron was taken aback enough by the sudden interruption that he forgot entirely what he was going to say.

His third-in-command looked no less calm and collected and professional than usual, as if having the paramour of his commander in his _berth_ was nothing out of the ordinary. "Starscream; quarantined."

"What are you _doing_ in here?!" Starscream yelled, sinking down the headboard and hiding himself more securely among the covers, knuckles clutching the sheets to his chest tightly. "I'm -I'm sick!"

"You don't _look_ it," Megatron snarled.

Starscream ducked his head and produced what sounded like a fake cough.

"What's wrong with him then?" Megatron turned on Soundwave. Because he sensed a _plot_ , and he wasn't leaving until he got to the bottom of it. "Since you have seen fit to elect yourself as the base's new nurse maid, Soundwave?"

Soundwave's visor dimmed in what looked like exasperation. "Virus; minor."

"And why is he in your berth, and not the med-bay?"

"Virus; contagious," Soundwave said simply. "Soundwave; Immune. Lord Megatron; at risk."

"I think I can cope with Starscream's imaginary illness," Megatron scoffed, and started towards the berth. Soundwave made no effort to stop him, but Starscream's optics flashed in panic.

"No, no, stop, don't come any closer-!"

"What are you hiding?!" Megatron demanded, hand outstretched.

Before he could grasp the sheets, rip them away, and drag Starscream to his feet, a muffled growling noise sounded from beneath them. Starscream cringed and Megatron froze, hand hovering above the sheets.

"What was-?"

"My tanks!" Starscream shouted suddenly. "It was my tanks. I'm sick remember?" He lifted a hand to his forehead, looking rather sorry for himself of. "Oh, woe is me, I'm so sick-"

There was another growling noise.

"Very sick!" Starscream announced over it, squinting at Megatron pleadingly. "I don't want you to see me like this..."

Megatron hesitated, taking a step back. If Starscream really _was_ riddled with some unknown contagious virus-?

He began to feel rather foolish. He looked away, both unable to meet Starscream's gaze and explain his suspicions in front of Soundwave. He could feel his third-in-command's optics on the back of his helm, judging him. It was all he could do to hold his head high and gather what little dignity his overzealous sense of possessive jealousy had left him with.

"We have much to discuss," he told Starscream. "But it can wait till after your recovery."

Starscream nodded hurriedly, sheets still clutched to his front.

Megatron gave Soundwave a curt nod, and left without another word.

* * *

Inside Soundwave's quarters, Starscream exhaled and let the covers fall alway to reveal Freefall in his lap, angrily chewing on some of the sheets and growling like a ferocious beast.

Starscream planted his hands on his hips and glared at Soundwave. "Some telepath you are. You couldn't have warned me a little earlier?"

"To ensure you had sufficient time to re-locate your sparkling to the air ducts?" Soundwave's monotone was startlingly sassy today.

Starscream scowled, "You _want_ me to get caught, don't you?"

"Affirmative." Soundwave nodded without a hint of hesitation. Starscream's mouth fell open in offence. "But I gave you my word, and you are in ...a delicate state."

Starscream fell back to the pillows with a huff, "That's a patronising way of saying knocked up."

"If you were to behave more responsibly I would not need to patronise you."

Soundwave was starting to use _that_ tone, so Starscream zoned out, focusing instead on Freefall climbing up his frame. The heavy little pest kneed him in all the most delicate places on his journey up, but Starscream couldn't help his smile when a dopey face appeared above his and clumsy little hands patted his chest.

He took Freefall's hand and guided it so it rested directly above his spark chamber. "We're both going to have to learn some responsibility now," Starscream told him. "This is going to be your problem too you know, _big brother."_

Freefall had no comprehension of brotherhood, and simply continued to poke at Starscream curiously, tongue sticking out as he concentrated.

Starscream sighed.

He wondered if the second one was going to be as stupid as the first.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter specific warnings for injections and needles in the latter half of the chapter.

When it came to Starscream, Soundwave had limited patience and empathy. That the foolish seeker was now a parent to one unplanned sparkling and expecting a _second_ unplanned sparkling, did little to extend his sympathies. He tolerated Starscream's presence in his quarters -and in his berth- for a full five days before deciding their hastily conceived 'quarantine' farce had gone on long enough. Starscream could not spend the rest of his and Freefall's days hiding from Megatron.

Tonight, things would _change_.

When Soundwave returned to his quarters after his duty shift -which was a harrowing nine continuous hours in which Megatron stalked him around the command centre with obsessive determination, his jealous, suspicious thoughts projecting from his processor with such necessary strength even Soundwave's own mental shielding couldn't block them out.

Inside, Starscream was unsurprisingly still in his berth with Freefall, his home away from home as of late. He was in the midst of trying (and failing) to teach his sparkling the concept of object permanence by hiding behind the berth sheets in what had to be the most stressful game of Peak a Boo anyone had ever witnessed.

Soundwave stopped in the doorway and found himself compelled to watch.

Every time Starscream lifted the covers and hid himself from his sparkling's view, Freefall began to hiccup, his face scrunching up tearfully.

"No!" Starscream snapped, dropping the covers again to reveal himself. Freefall's face lit up with a relieved smile. "I'm still here, stupid. You can hear me, see I'm-"

He lifted the covers again halfway through his sentence, but Freefall started to wail loudly the moment his creator disappeared from view, and to his understanding, from the universe as he knew it.

Starscream gave up and tossed the covers aside, spotting Soundwave lingering by the doorway. He tossed his head back with a dramatic sigh, utterly unashamed to be caught arguing with an infant. "Finally. Intelligent conversation-"

"Starscream; get up," Soundwave demanded, coming to stand at the foot of the berth, folding his arms sternly across his chest. "Your cover story has been exhausted. Megatron will not tolerate your absence any longer."

Starscream clutched at the berth covers and drew them up to his chest defensively. Thinking they were entering into some sort of tug of war, Freefall grabbed handfuls of fabric too and began to yank on them determinately.

"What?!" Starscream cried, ignoring the squirming, fighting sparkling getting tangled in the sheets next to him, "No! I can't go out there! What do you mean he won't tolerate it?! He thinks I'm sick!"

"He does not. He is one suspicious thought from storming these quarters and removing you through force," Soundwave intoned seriously, which was the truth. He had read it from Megatron's own illogical, emotional processor just hours ago. "Long term solutions to this problem must be discussed." He pointedly looked at the Freefall-shaped lump under the berth covers, moving around like a mole under the earth.

Starscream paled considerably at the prospect. "I can't tell him now. He's already irrational-!"

"Yes," Soundwave agreed, unsympathetic. "You have made your berth, now you will lie in it."

"What about my sparkling!?" Starscream cried pleadingly, struggling to catch Freefall under the covers so he could hold him out like some sort of living shield against taking responsibility for his actions. "He's done nothing wrong. He's innocent! You wouldn't condemn a sparkling to Megatron's wrath?!"

"I am confident Megatron will safe the majority of his 'wrath' for you." Soundwave's hands came to land on his hips.

"But I'm carrying!" Starscream blurted out.

Soundwave tilted his helm back, "I am aware-"

"I cannot deal with the stress-!"

"Starscream: is not seriously considering sparking a second new-spark unassisted," Soundwave's drone became a growl. It was bad enough Starscream had done it once already. The seeker was lucky there had been no severe complications. Sparking a second new-spark the same way would be tempting fate.

But Starscream shrugged noncommittally, "Don't make such a fuss. It all worked out the first time."

Soundwave had his own acute telepathic abilities to thank for the glimpses into Starscream's own half-suppressed memories of the ordeal. From what he saw and felt, it had _not_ been alright. It had been downright traumatising. A cycle spent curled up in a energon-soaked berth, shaking fingers clamping his own fuel lines before he bled out.

Starscream had done such a thorough job of burying that trauma, he'd deluded himself into thinking he could do it all again.

Soundwave felt an irrational surge of protective at the thought of Starscream suffering in such a way again. He could not allow it. Carrying periods only lasted a luna cycle for seekers, and Starscream was already a quarter of the way through this one. He would not tolerate Starscream wasting any more precious time with his childishness.

Soundwave swiftly circled to berth to reach Starscream at the head, "Get up. Now. I am taking you for an examination."

Starscream shrank back at his dark, serious tone. He still had the covers clutched tightly to his front, and Soundwave suddenly got the distinct impression he was hiding something. He seized the edge of the sheets and yanked.

The was a ripping noise as they tore. Starscream was left holding only a tiny corner of fabric when the covers where whooshed away from his frame. And then, for the first time in nearly a week, Soundwave was treated to a full, unobstructed view of what a seeker carrying a large low-caste new-spark looked like.

Starscream scowled, doing his best to hide the extension of his chassis with his arms tight around his middle. His trim, curved waist had become a square, his armour shifting and reforming to make room for the large protoform being forged in his gestation tank.

"Stop staring!" Starscream snapped. "Can't you see why I can't just go galavanting about the base?!"

Which explained why Starscream had as good as disappeared during Megatron's absence when he had been carrying Freefall. There was no hiding his condition, even this early on.

Sighing in exasperation but desperate to get Starscream out of his quarters and to a med-bay before the seeker and his growing brood took up permanent residence, Soundwave stalked to one of the storage units against the bulkhead and began riffling through it.

"What are you doing?" Starscream's high, nasally voice called after him. "If you're going to try and restrain me, I won't come easily! I may be carrying, but I can still kick-!"

"Enough," Soundwave intoned loudly, silencing him. He stood with a long length of dated fabric in hand; a cloak of his from before the war. It was old and musty from disuse, and made of cheap starchy materials, but it had been all be could afford living on the streets before the war.

Starscream's nose crinkled in obvious distaste. "Where did you find _that_?"

"It was mine," Soundwave approached the berth with it. The material was thick and insulating and heavy, perfect for concealing things. "This should hide your condition."

Starscream veered back, scooping up Freefall and shuffling to the edge of the berth, as far as he could get from it. "There is no way in Pit I am wearing that. No way, Soundwave. _No. Way."_

* * *

Soundwave's old cloak was actually surprisingly warm. It covered Starscream from neck to toe-pedes, large enough to envelope both his wings and his telling bump completely. Even Freefall, who he was holding against his chest, was completely hidden from the glances of the Decepticons they passed - _if_ he sat still and didn't make any noise, that was. Starscream had to cover up more than one high-pitched squeal with an awkward cough of his own to avoid suspicion.

As they walked he ducked his helm and gave the cloak a curious stiff. It was musty from storage but still smelt like Soundwave; an oddly comforting aroma, one he had grown used to during his days hiding away from Megatron in the Third In Command's spacious quarters.

He had still been reluctant to step out into the corridor, but Soundwave had grasped a handful of the cloak and tugged him along, deaf to protests. In order to keep himself covered Starscream trotted along behind him obediently, Freefall squirming in his arms and trying to break free of his fabric prison to poke his head out and take in the world. He had never seen outside of Starscream or Soundwave's quarters before. Starscream would have to smuggle him to the surface one day, let him see the sky...

Soundwave pulled him along like he was a pet on a leash, past the living quarters and towards the back of the base, where the repair bays and laboratories sat. "I don't think you're qualified for this," Starscream frowned at the back of Soundwave's head.

Soundwave didn't appear to care what he thought. Whether he was qualified or not he was determined to give Starscream at the very least a basic checkup. And if Starscream refused to let him do it, a 'professional' would be called. And unlike Soundwave, Hook would have absolutely no qualms about keeping his little (big) secret from Megatron.

And as angry as Megatron would be to learn Starscream had been keeping such a monumental secret, it would be twice as bad if he had to hear it from someone else. Starscream shuddered just thinking about it.

Soundwave had the authority and sway to clear med-bay six when they arrived. The medics shuffled out hurriedly, no questions asks, optics on the ground. Starscream scowled in annoyance because no one ever seemed to respect _him_ enough to obey him without question. And _he_ was a higher rank!

"They do not respect me," Soundwave rudely read his mind and answered him in the echoing silence of the now empty med-bay. "They fear me."

"Same thing," Starscream muttered, plonking himself down on the nearest bench. He let the cloak fall open and Freefall's little head swizzled around to take things in. He immediately reached for an equipment table covered in sharp looking tools.

Starscream took one of oversized clumsy fists in each of his own hands to prevent him from touching things he shouldn't. "Is there a cage in here we can stick this one in?"

Soundwave approached him with a scanner, and gestured with his free hand for Starscream to hand the accident prone sparkling over. What Starscream struggled to do with two hands, Soundwave did easily with one, hefting the dense sparkling and tucking Freefall to his chest with one arm, stilling his restless wriggles.

"Recline," Soundwave ordered Starscream, activating the scanner with his thumb.

Self-conscious and awkward because this was _Soundwave_ , Starscream did, watching with suspicious squinting optics as the handheld scanner tracked over him. Freefall was watching with bug wide optics from Soundwave's chest, likely wondering what the Hell was going on. Starscream scowled up at both of them, his fingers tapping impatiently against the thick armour around this middle. He tilted his head up, chin against his chest, and glared down at his bulky waist resentfully.

He couldn't recall if Freefall had ever felt this much like having a spare tire stuck around his middle, but he was sure _this_ one was weighing him down worse. It was already hard to sit up and bend down and rise under his own power.

"Know anyways to make it smaller?" He asked flippantly.

Soundwave stared at him in silent contempt, scanner held aloft.

"I'm just saying, you could induce it to come early and it won't be quiet so big."

Soundwave's optics darkened dangerously. "Starscream: naive," He intoned judgmentally, setting aside the scanner and lowering Freefall back to his creator. The sparkling was sat firmly on Starscream's chest, where his already sizeable frame put considerable pressure on Starscream's intakes. The breath whooshed out of him.

"Soundwave-!" He wheezed, unable to lift his boulder-like sparkling off him from his reclined position. And carrying a second, dense _rock_ inside of him didn't make sitting up any easier. "Soundwave, I'm stuck-!"

"Good," Soundwave wandered out of sight for a moment, "Stay there."

Starscream listened to him clatter and bang about behind him. He craned his neck back but couldn't see what he was doing. It was then that Starscream began to suspect the Third In Command had deliberately trapped him under Freefall's heavy aft to restrain him.

"Hey!" He shouted, trying harder to dislodge his sparkling. Freefall looked down at him undisturbed, making no effort to remove himself.

Then Soundwave wandered back into view with the largest syringe Starscream had ever seen. He froze, vocaliser catching. "...Is that for Freefall?" He asked hopefully.

Soundwave lifted the syringe up to the light. It was full of a mysterious cobalt fluid Starscream was unfamiliar with. Soundwave flicked it twice to rid it of any air bubbles and checked his measurements. "No," he said casually.

"What the Pit is it?!" Starscream hissed, unable to shuffle away with clueless Freefall sat on him, drooling on his own fingers. "Soundwave, don't-!"

"This is a relaxant," Soundwave informed him. "It will loosen the protoform beneath your armour and prevent your internals from becoming constricted as the new-spark grows."

Starscream winced, "...I don't need it."

"Don't you," Soundwave loomed.

"I'll look ridiculous!" Starscream protested. "If you inject that into my protoform everything's going to-" he mimed something akin to an explosion occurring from his waist with his hands. "I'd rather suffer than have to walk around looking like a beach ball!"

"The scan has revealed a misshapen gestation tank," Soundwave held the injection up threateningly. "Relaxing your protoform will allow it to continue to expand naturally and prevent the new-spark from constriction."

"So it'll get even bigger-!"

"She will be big regardless."

Starscream's next protest was silenced before it passed his lips. "...She?"

Soundwave nodded, still poised with the injection. "Your frame will return to normal once she has emerged."

Starscream bit his lip, thinking about the poor little thing getting squashed in there. Freefall was sat on his chest, watching him, large but perfectly formed. Perhaps he could endure a few weeks as a walking cannon ball so his sparkling arrived in the world strong and healthy. He owed that to her.

"Alright," he mumbled, looking aside, "Just be-"

Soundwave's hands were already on his waist, pushing armour panels apart to create a seam wide enough to stick the needle. Starscream screeched in indignity at the sudden sting, Soundwave plunging the needle deep into his protoform.

"Ow!"

"Starscream: melodramatic. Injection: painless." Soundwave claimed, withdrawing the long, thick needle and rubbing the afflicted area with his fingers to massage away the ache.

Starscream tried to snatch the syringe off him to prove it _did_ hurt, but was distracted when he felt the relaxant already getting to work. A numbness began to spread across the protoform around his waist. His hands fell to it with a discomforted hum.

Soundwave put the syringe aside and now that he had no reason to keep Starscream still, lifted Freefall off him again. Freefall babbled and pointed to Starscream in concern. Starscream cast him a reassuring look, smoothing a hand over the rising swell beneath his cockpit, where his internals were finding the room to finally spread out. Oddly enough, his legs felt weak and heavy too.

"Idiot," he muttered, feeling numb from the injection point down. "You gave me too much."

"Side affect; temporary," Soundwave acknowledged.

"I can't _stand_ ," Starscream glared. "How am I going to get back without being seen if I can't even walk!?"

Soundwave lifted his chin proudly. "Soundwave; more than capable of carrying you."

Starscream shuttered his optics. Would these indignities ever end?


	8. Chapter 8

Unnervingly quiet for such a rowdy sparkling, Freefall sat and frowned at Starscream's chassis. Starscream watched him, wondering if his stunted little processor had finally developed enough for basic cognitive function. Could he see something was different about his creator? Did he recognise what the extra weight meant?

Starscream watched expectantly, waiting for the verdict.

"Starscream," Soundwave's voice droned.

Starscream threw up a hand and shushed him hurriedly. "Don't interrupt. He's thinking."

Soundwave's visor swivelled to Freefall. "...He is not."

Starscream scowled at him, "How would _you_ know?"

Soundwave stared back at him.

Freefall broke their venomous staring contest by scooting forwards on his aft and making a curious noise. He lifted a hand, and brought it down with a bang on Starscream's extended chassis. The clang echoed loudly, and being such a _big_ sparkling as he was, the blow hurt.

"Ow!"

Freefall lifted his arm a second time but Soundwave caught his wrist before he could do it again, quickly slipping hands under his arms and hoisting him up, away from Starscream.

"Great," Starscream muttered, rubbing his chassis, hoping the new-spark inside hadn't felt the abuse. "He's a thug. Just like his sire."

Freefall blew an angry raspberry, wriggling in Soundwave's hands. "Bah! Raagh!"

Little monster.

"Speaking of sires," Soundwave began over Freefall's yelling.

Starscream flopped across his berth -glad to be back in his quarters even if he had rather enjoyed being waited on hand and foot at Soundwave's. "Oh, not this again..."

"Lord Megatron; will be pleased to see you after your unnecessary time apart," Soundwave reassured him.

"' _Pleased to see me_ ,'" Starscream snorted. "He won't see _me_ at all! All he's going to see is _this_ -" Starscream slapped his hands to the moderate, but obvious, swell of armour beneath his cockpit. "-coming at him!"

"Negative," Soundwave thrusted Freefall's squirming body forwards. "He will notice the sparkling long before your figure."

Starscream held his hands up, refusing to take him. "I can't take Freefall!" He yelped. "Megatron doesn't _handle_ surprises well."

Soundwave tilted his helm. "Your assumption is biased."

"How so?"

"Starscream's surprises; Assassinations."

"I keep him on his toes," Starscream huffed.

"Freefall; happy surprise," Soundwave extended the scowling sparkling again.

"I'll make a deal with you," Starscream rolled off the berth clasped his hands together in front of him. "I will tell Megatron, tonight. And _you_ will take care of the sparkling until I'm sure that unpredictable psychopath has adjusted to the idea of being a sire. Deal?"

Soundwave looked suspicious.

"I'm trying to be a good creator!" Starscream cried, wondering if the stupid tape-deck thought he could do anything right.

But finally, somehow, Soundwave relented, bringing Freefall back to his chest plates. Perhaps it was because he finally sensed a slither of honesty within Starscream? It seemed the telepathic abilities that had been the bane of Starscream's war career were finally starting to come in handy.

"Go. Now."

"What, _now_ now?" Starscream shuffled his footing. He started moving things about on his berth-side table, making himself busy. "I was going to wait until after the duty-shift."

Soundwave picked up the discarded cloak from the end of the berth and thrust it into Starscream's arms, directing him towards the door. "Now."

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" Starscream stumbled across the room, powered forwards by the hand on the centre of his back. "I'm _going_! Don't push, I'm carrying, you animal!"

Soundwave sealed the door behind him, shutting him out in the corridor. Starscream hastily wrapped the clock around his shoulders to ensure his condition was hidden from anyone he might pass before he reached Megatron.

Behind him, the door panel for his quarters blinked red as it was locked to prevent him from reentering. Starscream scowled. "Real mature, Soundwave!" He called through the door, knowing the telepath would still hear him by other means.

He inhaled deeply to brace himself.

Primus, he couldn't believe he was actually going to do this.

* * *

Megatron's processor was so preoccupied with thoughts of Starscream that he assumed he must have been hallucinating when the seeker finally poked his helm around the command centre's wide, open doorway. Megatron lifted his cheek from where it had been propped against his fist. Starscream met his optics and ducked back behind the doorway again, and Megatron's emotions soared and fell like they were on a swing.

What was that blasted seeker up to now?

He rose out of his seat and stalked to the doorway. Halfway there, Starscream poked his head out again, and emitted a strangled sounding noise when he saw Megatron coming right for him.

"Don't you dare run from me!" Megatron barked when the seeker took three rapid steps back.

Starscream froze as well as any well trained drone, biting down on his bottom lip. He was wrapped in some ridiculous cloak. It was plain and dated and cheap looking. Far from what he recognised as Starscream's usual taste. The fabric grew taunt as Starscream clutched at it under Megatron scrutiny.

"Er, Lord Megatron," he smiled nervously, too much teeth, lips twitching. "I was just coming to see you-"

"-to explain why the Pit you've been avoiding me for the past week?" Megatron growled. He tugged at the cloak Starscream was wearing, prompting a nervous little squeak from Starscream, who quickly turned himself out of a Megatron's reach. "What is this?"

"It's- it's-," Starscream's optics were nervously glancing into the command centre behind him, where a room full of Decepticons were no doubt eavesdropping, "-to ward off the chill," Starscream bunched up his shoulders under the clock. "The virus has left my -my internal heating system overtaxed."

"Yes," Megatron purred dangerously. "Your _virus_..."

Starscream shifted from side-to-side, clearly sensing his disbelief. "We need to talk."

"We needed to talk two weeks ago," Megatron folded his arms across his chest and straightened to his full height. "Your behaviour has grown erratic and reclusive-"

Starscream's mouth dropped open, nervousness forgotten in the face indignity. "Says who?!"

"Everyone. Your trine-"

"Those washed-up old hacks are exaggerating their importance," Starscream growled. "They don't know my day-to-day behaviour to be able to comment on any changes to it-"

"But _Soundwave_ does, doesn't he?" Megatron couldn't keep the jealous hiss from his voice.

Starscream fell startling quiet. It did nothing to alleviate Megatron's fears regarding his high command. His gaze darkened.

Starscream seemed to sense this conversation was rapidly about to go south, and shuffled closer, optics pleadingly flicking to the doorway behind them. "If you let me explain-"

Megatron planted his pedes, shoulder width apart, and didn't budge. "Explain."

Starscream refocused on their blatantly eavesdropping audience, his mouth working on air. "--Not here."

He was embarrassed. Ashamed even. Megatron's ire rose further. "What have you _done_ , Starscream."

Starscream's jaw clenched, "I haven't-" he cut himself off, and slowly, beneath the cloak, his wings began to lift. His demeanour changed, from flighty and nervous, to smooth and seductive. "It's what I _want_ to do. To you." He wriggled his brows.

Megatron tilted his chin back. Starscream's suddenly flirtatious nature was undoubtably a ruse to get him out of the command centre and somewhere more private. Like his quarters or an empty office, perhaps even a supply closet, again. But Megatron was far from immune. It had been a week, and he was a mech with needs. Even if Stsrscream was only luring him away to minimise the humiliation of whatever buffoonery he had involved himself in this time, it would certainly be worth it if it meant running off an additional bit of charge.

"Fine," he growled through his clenched jaw, making sure he didn't look _too_ eager. He lifted a hand. "Lead the way."

Starscream did, walking some ways ahead of him, purposefully out of reach. Megatron quickened his pace to keep up, a hand outstretched, but still unusually flighty now that they were alone, Starscream would duck away from it, avoiding his touch. He lengthened his stride, and Starscream skipped off ahead, and before he knew it, they were both sprinting up the corridor like a couple of hooligans.

"This is completely immature!" Starscream yelled over his wing, torn between finding the chase annoying and amusing.

All Megatron wanted to do was catch him, tear the ridiculous cloak away from his glimmering frame, and have him right up against the wall for all to see. His fingers brushed fabric and Starscream shrieked, twirling away and falling against the doorway to Megatron's quarters.

His prey trapped, Megatron slowed his advance to a promisingly prowl, watching Starscream press himself against the doorway and pant, out of breath, his hand fiddling with the door controls, "Alright, alright, just let me open the-"

The door swept open and Starscream fell through seconds before Megatron reached him. Starscream stumbled backwards into the quarters until the lower edges of his wings hit the corner of Megatron's desk.

Megatron didn't waste a second before advancing on him, desperate for him.

Starscream caught his wrists just as his hands dove to grab him, his fingers only brushing the fabric he was so eager to toss aside. He was able to capture Starscream's mouth in a kiss unhindered though, and having been denied his carnal indulgences for so long, he couldn't afford to be gentle. He thrust his tongue into Starscream's mouth and curled it, listening to the seeker's muffled grunt, feeling the way his fingers twisted around his wrists.

He stepped forward, wanting to bully Starscream backwards, toss him over his desk and frag him senseless. But a knee lifted and held him at bay, keeping a full metre between their frames. Megatron growled into the kiss, sucking Starscream's bottom lip into his mouth to bite on it.

Starscream tore himself out of the kiss, "Wait, I-I'm-"

Megatron breathed hotly over his lips, pressing in again. Weaker than him, Starscream struggled to hold his hands back, and Megatron managed to clutch at the cloak, tugging on it. Starscream wriggled frantically. "Your spike!" He blurted suddenly, stopping Megatron in his tracks. "Let- Let me me suck you off."

Had Megatron been lucid enough to think logically, he would have known Starscream was trying to hide something, but his processor was filled with such stunning imagery of the seeker on his knees, mouth open, that he allowed room for nothing else. It was such a rare treat that he groaned aloud, a pressure already building below his tanks where his array was warming.

Starscream seemed to realise he'd got him. He leant forward, his breath dusting Megatron's lips, optics hooded. "I'll even swallow."

Megatron released Stsrscream's cloak and the seeker fell to his knees instantly. Megatron reached behind the seeker for his desk, gripping the edge to steady himself when Starscream's hands clutched his legs above the knee joints. Starscream began kissing the insides of his thighs. He deliberately ignored the space between them where Megatron's codpiece armour transformed away. Megatron felt the cooler air of the room on the very tip of his spike as it began to emerge from it's sheave, the length of proto-metal extending ridge by ridge with every indulgent kiss of Starscream's lips.

He dropped his free hand to the top of Stsrscream's head, watching as the seeker extended his tongue and dragged it wetly up the inside seam of his thigh, right up into the space where leg armour met hip plating. He prodded arounf behind his swelling spike, where the sheave met his valve. He flicked his tongue, and Megatron's spike extended to it's full, thick, pulsing length, standing tall and ridgidly curved towards his belly. Starscream's optics brightened at the sight of it, obviously eager to wrap his smart little mouth around it.

Megatron wished he would hurry up and get on with it.

Sensing his impatience -and taking great joy in it, no doubt- Starscream drew back, exhaled so his hot breath stirred the great length before him. He flicked his tongue over the tip, sending a pulse of pleasure down the length and straight to base of Megatron's spine. The teasing lick prompted a trickle of silvery fluid out of the head. It welled at the tip before spilling over and tracking slowly down the curve of his spike. Starscream leaned in again, tongue out and extended, and caught the droplet, licking all the way back up to the tip. He lingered there a moment, his lips resting closed against the sensitive head.

Megatron couldn't keep his hands off himself. He gripped his spike and nudged Starscream's mouth with it, trying to breach past those smirking lips and sink himself into his warm wet mouth. Starscream turned his head at the last minute and Megatron's spike skimmed his cheek, the weeping tip leaving a streak of silver transfluid in it's wake. He growled impatiently, frame surging with heat when Starscream's tongue snaked out and cleaned away what it could reach.

With the guiding hand on the back of the seeker's helm, Megatron tilted Starscream's head back, lifting his sharp chin up and exposing his long neck. Starscream opened his mouth to breathe, his own frame starting to overheat as it struggled to expel the heat trapped beneath that ridiculous cloak he refused to shuck off.

Mouth open for the taking, Megatron brought the head of his spike to it. Starscream's tongue was a pressure that met it just past his lips, but Megatron pushed deeper, forcing it to the back of Starscream's mouth, prompting a gargled noise from the seeker.

He let himself rest inside for a moment, his spike half swallowed and Starscream suckling lightly, his tongue flexing and probing curiously at sensitive ridges. A blush of energon dusted Starscream's dark, hollowed cheeks, his lips were stretched around him obscenely.

A wing flicked under the cloak, and Megatron pressed forwards thoughtlessly. Starscream coughed when the tip of Megatron's spike slipped into his throat tubing, his fingers flexing where they held Megatron's thighs. Megatron drew back but found it hard to resist the tug of suction, and dipped back in again, deeper this time. He felt Starscream's throat constrict around him, the tubing working hard to draw the intrusion down into Starscream tank before he choked on it.

Megatron drew back so Starscream could breathe, waited a pause, and sunk all the way back in again, until his pelvis tapped Starscream's elegant little nose.

Starscream made a noise that might have been moan, a vibration that carried through Megatron's spike and went straight to add to the tightening pressure below to tanks. His grip tightened on the edge of the desk behind Starscream as he began to thrust into the seeker's throat. Oral lubricants built as Starscream was unable to swallow, some of it escaping the corners of his mouth.

With his hand on the back of Starscream's head Megatron tugged the seeker forwards and kept him there, and let the rhythmic clench of Starscream's own struggling throat tip him over the edge. Starscream exhaled heavily through the nose squashed to Megatron's pelvis when he began to overload, his spike pumping thick streams of transfluid directly down his throat. One of Starscream's hands fell to the cloak resting over his lower chassis, but Megatron's optics were too busy flickering on and offline as charge surged through his frame and burst out of his spike to notice.

He began to pull back, and Starscream, surprisingly eager, suckled on the tip of his spike until it was pulled from his mouth, soft and wilting. Megatron groaned at the sight of his seeker falling back into his haunches, his mouth open and panting. He had indeed swallowed. Every drop.

Dormant protocols stuttered online, protocols that wanted him to stay close to Starscream, physically, to envelope him and kiss him and probably take him to berth and have him all over again. He couldn't even begin to wonder where such urges were coming from, but it was ludicrous to ignore them. He dropped to his knees in front of Starscream and took him into a kiss, his tongue sliding across wet, swollen lips. He could taste the brackishness of his own overload on the seeker's tongue, but didn't have time to savour it before Starscream was turning out of the kiss, brushing he hands that tried to embrace him away.

"Starscream," he tried, grabbing a handful of cloak.

Starscream smacked him off and stumbled upright, gripping the desk for assistance. He seemed sluggish, his limbs heavy. Less graceful than he should be. Megatron rose to help him.

"Will you stop-!" Starscream snapped. "Stop trying to touch me!"

"I was helping you to your feet," Megatron growled, protocols beginning to recede. He didn't feel like cuddling the fickle seeker quite so enthusiastically now.

"Because you're _such_ a gentlemech," Starscream scoffed, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth.

Something burnt in Megatron's chest. "So, you offered to pleasured me simply so you could throw it back in my face?"

Starscream's flushed cheeks grew darker. He suddenly became very interested in the desk. "No-!"

"Tell me what the Pit is going on?!" Megatron demanded. "First this made-up virus story, rumours about you sneaking around with _Soundwave_ , and now you won't let even let me touch you-"

"I can't talk to you when you're like this!" Starscream threw up his hands, suddenly animated and borderline hysteric. "You're impossible!"

Megatron stared, watching him flail about. "... _I'm_ impossible?"

"And now you're being sarcastic!" Starscream thrust a finger at him. "I _knew_ this would happen-"

Megatron watched the seeker stalk around him and head for the door, and something started jabbing him repeatedly in the head, telling him he couldn't let Starscream leave in such an unhinged state.

He surged forward. Starscream saw his advance out of the corner of his optic. He yelled and lashed out. The back of his hand skimmed Megatron's chest armour and Megatron took him by the shoulders and held him. Starscream cringed away, turning his body.

Megatron didn't know what to say. Had no idea how to get information out of someone without blackmail or torture or bribery. He didn't have anything to offer that Starscream would want. Other than himself.

He dropped his helm and kissed him. He felt Starscream stiffen, and for a tense beat, the seeker didn't respond. But then there was a stuttering exhale and Starscream's lips parted. Megatron twined their tongues together to a slow erotic dance, steering Starscream back into the room, towards the berth.

Starscream kept a hand on his chest to stop him from pressing their frames together, mumbling some nonsense about his protoform aching, about being sensitive from the 'virus'. Megatron humoured him, letting him keep his blasted cloak, leaving his hands framing Starscream's handsome face lest he spooked him again.

They reached the berth and Starscream hitched the cloak up around his hips. He bent over Megatron's berth, his panel open and his valve damp from earlier arousal. Megatron had been surprised not to see him touching himself when he had sucked his spike, but it made sliding into Starscream's lush, tight valve all the sweeter now.

He held Starscream's hips as he fragged him, and Starscream clapped his hands over the top of them, keeping them from wandering the rest of his frame. Megatron fragged him gently, slowly, and for a long time. And when Starscream overloaded, he followed shortly after, his spent spike spitting transfluid, sensitive and aching.

He pulled out and fell to the side of Starscream, turning his head to stare at him across the sheets. He reached a hand across to skim fingers over his warm cheek, and Starscream brushed them away with his claws, optics dimming regretfully.

They really needed to talk, but exhausted emotionally and physically, Megatron began to drift off, optical shutters growing too heavy to keep open. He was already dozing when he felt the berth dip as Starscream rose from it, and asleep long before he could compute that that meant he had left anyway.

* * *

Starscream stumbled back to his quarters with a stinging throat and an aching valve and watery optics. He cupped his lower chassis under the cloak, rubbing at the curve with his thumb. It would have been easy to just shuck the stupid thing off and let his condition speak for itself.

He blamed Megatron, and his stupid libido, and his short temper. If he hadn't distracted him with sex and arguments and-!

He reached his doorway and sighed, rubbing a hand over his face to make sure he wouldn't be greeting Soundwave with cum -or worse, _tears_ \- on his face. Soundwave was going to kill him, he was sure, and if he was about to die he at least wanted to do it with some dignity.

Well, Soundwave couldn't kill him _yet_ , he supposed, patying his chassis. "You're already coming in handy." He told his new-spark.

Predictably, she didn't answer.

Swallowing his pride and concocting what he hoped was a semi-decent excuse, Starscream pressed the door-com and waited for Soundwave to let him back in. The panel beeped green and Starscream ambled over the threshold, a suitably sheepish expression already in place.

"I-"

His excuse evaporated from the tip of his tongue when he came to stand before two pairs of dark wings, and their owner's very unimpressed faces.

"Hello Starscream," Thundercracker greeted threateningly, he and Skywarp stood next to one another with their arms folded, like a couple of parents who'd just caught their mechling out after curfew.

Behind his trine, Soundwave was sat on his berth with Freefall on his lap. Starscream stared at him.

Soundwave shrugged.

Freefall blew a raspberry.


	9. Chapter 9

" _Soundwave_!?" Starscream howled, ignoring his trine for now. "What the Pit?! You didn't think to _hide him?!"_

"Deception; Starscream's responsibility," Soundwave answered flippantly, unmoving and unbothered where he sat apart from where the inevitable drama was about to unfold between the three of them.

Before that happened though, Starscream decided to squeeze in a moment of self pitying. He threw his hands up and clutched at his helm helplessly, crying to the ceiling, "Why is _everyone_ turning against _me?_!"

"You _lied_ to us," Skywarp snapped. "I don't know _why_ I'm surprised, but I am! How could you?!"

Starscream whirled on him. "I didn't lie to you. I didn't lie to anyone. If you'd _asked_ me if I were hiding a sparkling in the secret compartment above my desk, I might have said yes. But you didn't! It's not my fault neither of you block-heads noticed!"

"We noticed, Starscream," Thundercracker intoned darkly, flanking his trine-mate. "That's why we're here."

"Oh yes, you were _so_ concerned you decided to break in here and snoop through my things."

"We didn't break in," Thundercracker nodded his head towards Soundwave.

Starscream couldn't believe this. "You **_let_** them **_in?!"_**

Soundwave said nothing.

Starscream turned his ire on his trine. "I've told you before what I would do to the pair of you if I caught you going through my things again. My business is _my_ business-"

"Hey, that threat only applies to when we snitch on you for super-weapons that might kill us all," Skywarp argued. " _This_ doesn't count! You were hiding a sparkling!"

He pointed angrily at Freefall, who waved and bounced in Soundwave's lap.

"And you told _Soundwave_ ," Thundercracker continued, sounding hurt.

"I didn't _tell_ Soundwave!" Starscream squeaked, his vocaliser pitching up with emotion against his will. "He found out because he's an obsessive stalker that won't leave me alone! It's not like I'm out there spreading this around! Not even _Megatron_ knows, and _he's_ the stupid little brat's sire!"

Soundwave stood abruptly. Freefall stopped babbling, sensing the sudden shift in his current carer's temperament.

At the sight of Soundwave's menacingly glowing visor, Starscream realised -with an acute stab of fear- what he had just admitted too and started waddling towards the door. Megatron _still_ not knowing was not a good thing. "Oh slag-!"

"Stop him," Soundwave ordered.

A flash of purple seared Starscream's optics as Skywarp teleported and reappeared in front of him, blocking his escape. He caught Starscream roughly, arms locked around his middle. Pressure on Starscream's senstive midriff made him cry out. Skywarp's hands shot off him in the next instant.

"Wait a second-"

Before Starscream could stop him, Skywarp grasped a corner of the cloak and lifted it up.

"Thundercracker!" He yelled. Starscream frantically tried to yank the cloak back down. "Thundercracker, he's _carrying_!"

Thundercracker optics were so bright Starscream couldn't even see his expression past the blinding glare. "He's _**what**_?!"

It was all too much. Starscream could only stand and stare. Soundwave was furious. His trine were horrified. Freefall was probably scarred for life from all the yelling. And the spark he had yet to bear was probably going to come out with all sorts of behavioural programming problems thanks to the emotional turmoil he had suffered while carrying her.

"Did you know about this?!" Thundercracker and Skywarp had turned on Soundwave and where doing their level best to intimidate the unflappable Third In Command. "How many of his secrets are you keeping, Soundwave?!"

"No more," Soundwave turned his dark disappointed visor on Starscream. "Megatron: will be told. Tonight. Regarding both sparklings."

Starscream felt cold. He wrapped Soundwave's cloak tighter around himself. "I _tried_ -!"

"I can't believe this." Thundercracker was _apoplectic_. "This is _insane_ , Starscream. Carrying is dangerous. Carrying a cross-frame hybrid is suicidal-!"

"I didn't fragging plan any of this, Thundercracker!" Starscream burst out, the volume of his voice shocking Freefall and prompting him to sudden tears in Soundwave's arms. "If I was going to have a fragging hybrid sparkling on purpose I wouldn't chose low-caste coding like Megatron's, would I-!?"

"Who's the sire of this one?" Skywarp poked Starscream in the belly.

Starscream slapped the back of his hand, optic twitching, " _Megatron_ , obviously! "

"Well you may not have planned it Screamer, but you can't go about doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results." _Skywarp_ of all mechs began to lecture him. "If you're going to keep letting Megatron bareback you every night, you can't really expect not to get-"

"I fragging _used_ fragging protection-!" Starscream shook with mortification.

" _Primus_ ," Thundercracker wheezed, sounding scandalised. "Not in front of the _sparkling_ -!"

Freefall's wails were now so loud he likely couldn't hear anyway. Soundwave was patting him soothingly, but his attention was more focused on Starscream's wavering excuses.

"I just can't believe you kept this from us all this time," Thundercracker started up with the guilt tripping again. "How long have you been hiding him in here?"

"You're being dramatic. This isn't some great, long-term conspiracy," Starscream scoffed. "He's only two weeks old."

Thundercracker and Skywarp's optics nearly burst with brightness. They looked between each other and Freefall.

"You're _kidding_ ," Skywarp breathed, awed. He bent to be level with Freefall in Soundwave's arms, and at Skywarp's approach, the sparkling's wails began to calm into hiccups. "How'd the pit you get this out of you?"

"With great difficulty," Starscream growled through clenched denta.

Skywarp straightened up and whistled low, fingers stroking his imaginary beard. "Man, your valve must be a mess."

Heat rushed up the back of Starscream's neck. "I'm not hearing any complaints."

"Only 'cause Megatron's an old fashioned gentlemech," Skywarp muttered, elbowing Thundercracker to get him to agree. Thundercracker looked like he wanted to be anywhere but included in such a conversation.

"He was a pit mech, Skywarp," Starscream reminded him aggressively, "He's more likely to spit in my mouth than he is to open a door for me. In fact, I'll _tell_ what he just did in my mouth, he-"

"Enough." Soundwave, finally, put an end to _that_ conversation before Thundercracker fainted. "Lord Megatron's manners; irrelevant. He must be informed of both current and pending sparklings."

A hand slapped heavily to Starscream's shoulder. He found it attached to a solemn looking Skywarp. "It was nice knowing you, Screamer."

Starscream slapped him off, and gave him a good push as well to drive the point home. Skywarp's temper reared it's ugly head and he fluffed up his armour like he was going to shove back, but Soundwave stepped neatly between them, a sniffling Freefall blinking up at Skywarp miserably.

Skywarp settled down with a frown. "If you weren't carrying-"

"-then I'd have the energy spare to shoot you through that wall," Starscream snarled.

"Goading your trine into fights will not delay the inevitable, Starscream," Soundwave snapped his head towards him. "Now, decide."

"Decide what?""

Soundwave carefully handed Freefall over to Thundercracker, who swayed slightly under the sparkling's dense weight, unprepared for it. Soundwave straightened to his full height and stepped in front of Starscream, so close Starscream's extended chassis brushed his armour. His hands settled on his hips to maximise the force of his seriousness. "Decide whether you will walk to Megatron's quarters unassisted and willingly."

"Or?"

Soundwave loomed silently.

Starscream was treated to the vivid flashbacks of Soundwave carrying him that he hadn't been successful at blacking out before.

He cringed. "I'll walk."

* * *

Megatron blinked up at his ceiling, energy low but frame sated, and wondered to himself why he was sprawled across his berth sideways. Protocols clicked back online one by one, groggily waking him. He spread his arms out to stretch them, wincing at the creak and groan of stiff joints.

The berth at his side was cool but damp. He looked towards where the covers had been disturbed by a second body, and the whirlwind of an afternoon came rushing back to him.

He sat up rubbing his helm. No wonder he felt so sluggish. It was too early for a recharge and he had missed the evening refuel. Starscream ambushing him and insisting on such a rigorous midday 'face had taken it out of him.

He needed to start working on his stamina again. His time away from Starscream had obviously weakened him.

Loath to get up when he was so comfortable, he rolled into the space Starscream had occupied, feeling compelled to bury his olfactory in the sheets and inhale their scent deeply. The smell that was uniquely Starscream was aluminium and ozone and the faint hint of whatever overpriced wax he had last smeared himself in. His olfactory also detected the lingering scent of burnt plastic and the musk of oil from their interfacing. His processor blasted him back to that moment- Starscream bent over in front of him, clawing at his sheets, his aft upturned and pushing back into every press of his spike.

His array stirred at the memory, but it wasn't as noticeable as the ache in his chest. His longing transcended physical urges.

He wondered when he had become so ..clingy in regards to the seeker.

He sat up again, recollecting his dignity. They still needed to speak. 

And if he found that seeker in Soundwave's quarters again he was going to tie them together with their own internal wiring, since they were both so _keen_ on spending so much time alone together.

He scowled at his pedes, recognising his irrational jealousy for what it was but refusing to rationalise it away. Sometimes it was simply easier to think the worst of people. At least then the inevitable betrayal wouldn't sting quite so much.

His detrimental musing was interrupted by the chime of his door-com. The energy signature registered it as Starscream.

Megatron shot to his pedes in a spark-beat, already sending the command to open the door. No one stepped through.

For a beat he was staring at the empty doorway, wondering if the panel had somehow malfunctioned, when a high nasally voice cried from the corridor. "Alright, alright, don't push-!"

Starscream, slowly, step by reluctant step, appeared around the doorway. He was still dressed in his ridiculous cloak. Megatron was about to ask the seeker what the pit he was doing when Soundwave's taller, darker frame appeared behind him. Starscream stepped into the room quickly then, his pout ridiculously exaggerated.

"You can _go_ now," Starscream ordered Soundwave.

Soundwave didn't move. He remained in front of the door. Blocking it.

Megatron looked between the two of them. He could read nothing from Soundwave, but he was getting far too much from Starscream's twitching, wincing expressive face to make any sense of it.

"What is this?" He demanded.

Starscream said nothing. He ducked his chin like he thought he might be able to hide his face behind the fabric of the cloak as well.

"Starscream; has something to tell you," Soundwave broke the silence.

Starscream looked venomous. "Can't you just- give us some privacy!?"

Soundwave was commendably stubborn. He didn't move. He didn't speak. He stared at the back of Starscream's head like his visor planned on burning a hole through it.

"Speak!" Megatron snapped, growing tired of this facade. If Starscream planned to leave him in favour of... of _Soundwave_ , he'd rather just hear it plainly.

Starscream released a harsh, shuddering breath, glaring at the floor, the wings beneath the cloak falling low. "I- I'm-" he struggled to get it out. He snapped his head up and glared at Megatron. " _You_ did something to me."

Megatron thought back to the vigorousness of their lovemaking and took a concerned step forwards, "If you're damaged-"

Starscream fiddled with the clasp of the cloak. The next moment it was falling off his shoulders and wings and pooling on the floor at his pedes. It was only because Megatron followed it's fluttering journey to the floor that he noticed ... _it_.

His optics tracked back up Starscream's frame. From his thruster heels and his long legs, all the way to the considerable swell of his once cinched waist. The room darkened. His mouth went completely dry, sticking his glossa to the roof of his mouth. Before he could even think about the implications of any of it, his processor stalled on one single, ridiculous thought.

"But we just-" He pointed, "How did I not notice that?"

"Because you were too busy thinking with your spike to pay much attention to anything else," Starscream snapped.

By the doorway, Soundwave shifted like he was severely regretting bearing witness to this.

"Is that all you have to say?" Starscream demanded, still managing to strike a threatening image despite his ample figure. "' _Oh, I didn't notice you were fat'?!_ " He mocked him snidely.

Megatron's shock hadn't subsided enough for him to take Starscream's less than flattering impression of him to spark. "You're carrying," he breathed, moving forwards, hands extended. His first instinct was to touch, just to be sure it was real. "How long?"

Starscream was struggling to stay angry. "Not as long as it looks. You and your blasted gigantism."

Megatron touched the side of Starscream's chassis. The armour was warm, the protoform beneath taunt. He stroked his thumb back and forth. He looked up and met Starscream's surprised optics. "You thought I would be angry."

"I thought you would send it away," Starscream said challengingly.

He might, but Megatron kept that thought to himself for now. No use upsetting Starscream over it now. A long term solution to this would have to be sought out. They couldn't raise it here. A sunken military base on a hostile alien planet was a ludicrous place for a sparkling. No one in their right processor would want there offspring to live like this.

Soundwave shifted again, noticeably uncomfortable. Megatron drew his hand away from Starscream's frame, realising such affectionate displays were inappropriate and should be saved for more intimate moments.

But he quickly realised that his open display of affection wasn't the problem.

"There's something else," Starscream said, speaking more confidently now, trusting him now.

Megatron doubted it could be as great a bombshell as learning he was about to be a sire. By the doorway, Soundwave rubbed his forehead like he was getting a processor ache.

Starscream pressed his comm link and in the next moment the door was opening again, this time to admit Thundercracker and Skywarp.

Thundercracker was holding something very loud.

Something silver, with a helmet, and two red optics. Some _one_ with a round face and clumsy, blocky limbs.

"Anyway, here's one I made earlier," Starscream's deadpan voice somehow made it past the alarms ringing in Megatron's audials.

The sparkling kicked his pedes against Thundercracker's cockpit and yelled senselessly, and in that movement, even after a lifetime of slavery and revolution and war, Megatron had never felt so out of depth.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was supposed to wrap this fic up with a soft ending, but then another wave of Starscream-inspired drama hit me and now there are four extra chapters to come :D

Megatron's processor kicked back into function when he was handed a living lump of what must have been pure osmium it was so heavy. The gears in his arms whirred as they took on the strain, and if it hadn't been for the quiet mechanic noise, he would have thought his audials had malfunctioned altogether when the distressed screaming filling the room came to such an abrupt stop.

Megatron blinked. In his hands was a sparkling, short, blocky legs dangling in the air. Two rounded optics blinked back at him. He frowned. The sparkling frowned.

"Bah!" The sparkling protested, feet peddle-kicking as black servos curled into angry fists.

Megatron lifted him higher so they were optic-to-optic, something more than mere curiosity compelling him to study the little creature more thoroughly. He saw the sparkling's helmeted head was already scratched and dented with wear. Megatron wasn't surprised - Starscream didn't strike him as the sort of creator to bother with wrapping their sparkling in protective foam.

"Bah!" The sparkling repeated, wriggling more enthusiastically.

"I don't think he likes being ...dangled, sir," a timid voice offered. Thundercracker -Megatron realised with a sideways glance. The mech who had handed him his -

-had handed him a sparkling.

Awkward in his unsure movements, Megatron brought the sparkling to his shoulder, where small but strong fists used the seams in his armour as leverage to pull himself higher. Megatron grimaced and looked beyond for help. Skywarp and Soundwave were watching in nervous silence. Starscream was more interested in kicking around the discarded cloak on the floor.

"What is he-? _Where_ does this sparkling think he's going?!" Megatron demanded, the sparkling up on his shoulder and now trying to scale his neck, tugging on delicate throat cabling.

"The high ground," Starscream muttered. "He's quite stupid." He lifted his head to glare. "Probably thinks you're a tree."

"Stupid?" Megatron growled, wrapping a hand around the sparkling's rounded middle to remove him from his 'high ground'. There was a shriek of protest. "And how many times did you drop him on his head?"

"He's got a _helmet_ , doesn't he?!" Starscream snarled, white denta glinting dangerously.

Megatron stared at him a long time, ignoring the vigorous wriggling of the sparkling in his grip. Starscream stuck his nose up challengingly, by all appearances unrepentant of the mess he'd caused and uncaring of the feelings he'd hurt. Megatron couldn't even _look_ at the sparkling without feeling the sting of betrayal and confusion. This was... This was _his_ sparkling, but it wasn't coming to him fresh and new and nameless, he hadn't seen him emerge or watched his optics flicker to life. Those moments were lost to him forever.

That Starscream could have hidden something of such vast importance to him-

He looked up. "Soundwave, take the sparkling."

Starscream blinked in surprise, all aggression vanishing from his face, "Wh- but he's yours-"

"I know he's mine," Megatron handed the dense, squirming scrap of metal over. "So I would rather his first memory of me not involve the conversation I'm about to have with _you_."

It took half a beat for Megatron's tone to sink in, and when it did, Starscream was ducking behind Skywarp for protection. Not wanting to get caught up in the crossfire Skywarp quickly tried to dart away, so Starscream flung himself at Soundwave instead. "Don't let him hurt me!"

"Don't cower behind my Communications Officer like a sparkling clinging to it's nursemaid," Megatron thundered, pointing at the disk-round optics of his Second peaking out from behind Soundwave's shoulder cannon. "He can't protect you."

"Yes he can, can't you Soundwave?!"

Soundwave made a spark weary noise. His usual straight backed stance had taken on an uncharacteristic slump. Primus-knew what the poor mech had been putting up with, but as an obvious co-conspirator of Starscream's, Megatron found no sympathy for him.

"Clear the room," he ordered, but had to stalk across his quarters quickly when Starscream tried to flee with his trine. He locked a hand around the grip bar between Starscream's wings and the seeker froze, emitting a pathetic whimper of static. Soundwave paused just outside the doorway, the sparkling peering at them from his shoulder.

"Don't go far," Megatron told him, staring at the round face of his sparking. "This won't take long."

Soundwave nodded, and when the door shut to separate them, Megatron heard the indignant yelling of his vocal sparkling starting up again. The sound -though he had never heard it before today- activated a line of dormant coding, one that tried to override every sensible thought and desire in his processor with the urge to rush out and cuddle the source of the racket. His lip curled in disgust and he shut it down before it could influence him, but Starscream wasn't faring much better.

He pulled against Megatron's grip, "He needs me-"

" _I_ need you," Megatron held firm, resisting the urge to yank Starscream back. He couldn't afford to lose his temper, regardless of what the little snake had done, and regardless of what ridiculous excuses he was going to come up with when he was challenged on his behaviour. "Sit down. You're going to tell me everything."

Starscream pulled an innocently oblivious face, "About what?"

Megatron steered him towards his desk, insisting with a little nudge that he take a seat. Starscream did so gingerly, appearing to have some trouble bending his knees. It didn't help that the desk-chair was so deliberately uncomfortable, chosen by Megatron to lessen the likelihood of him falling asleep in it on the rare occasion he had to complete physical paperwork.

"About the sparkling."

A devious little smirk curled Starscream's mouth. He touched his chassis. "This one? Well, a week ago-"

"Not that one," Megatron snarled through his teeth. "The other one. Your 'ready made' surprise."

A pout pursed Starscream's lips. "...His designation is Freefall."

Megatron leant back, his aft dropping to the top of his desk with a little thunk. Hearing the designation made it all the more real.

"That's a Vosian designation," he realised.

"Of course it is," Starscream said stuffily, _"I_ am Vosian. My _sparkling_ is Vosian."

"A Vosian in submissive coding, and _not_ a seeker," Megatron growled, thinking of the blocky limbs and heavy armour and obviously wingless back. "You're going to give him a complex, naming him that."

"Yes well don't blame me. I decided on the name _before_ he came out all wrong," Starscream shrugged.

"Wrong," Megatron could feel his optic twitch.

"All square and heavy and misshapen," Starscream clarified. "And stupid."

"He looked in perfectly good function to me," Megatron folded his arms across his chest.

"He's built like a fragging wrecking ball," Starscream snorted.

"Sparklings's have thick, cumbersome armour to better protect them against injury. And they are dense to prevent scraplets from carrying them off."

Starscream stared. "There aren't any scraplets here, or on civilised Cybertron."

"There were plenty in Tarn," Megatron muttered, scowling at the mere memory of the evil little beasts. It wasn't something _his_ little ones would ever have to worry about. Not when Shockwave had the Decepticon main base on Cybertron so well fortified. There was no place safer for them. But one thing at a time.

"When did this happen?"

"You knocked me up before you left for Cybertron," Starscream admitted with forced flippancy, avoiding his gaze. "I was loath to _distract_ you from your oh so important mission. And by the time you got back-

"-You'd had him," Megatron finished, the picture coming together now. "So who else has been keeping your secrets? Hook? Scrapper?"

"Yuck," Starscream complained like an immature adolescent. "Why would I tell them about this?"

"Then how was the sparkling delivered?"

"The robo-stork dropped him off," Starscream snapped. "What do you think?! He came out the same way he got in."

"I am familiar with the mechanics of an emergence," Megatron growled. "But you had to have had help with the procedure."

Starscream looked away angrily, "I didn't need help."

Megatron's simmering anger was given a second wind when he understood Starscream's meaning. His chest filled with hot, aching rage. "You did it _alone_?!"

"I-"

"You could have been killed!" Megatron thundered. "Both of you!"

"Don't tell me after all these years you're going to pick _now_ to treat me like some wilting crystal rose? Moments from shattering into a thousand tiny pieces at the slightest poke?!" Starscream stood too, shouting, "I sparked that giant idiot son of yours under my own power, and in a few weeks I'm _going_ to spark this giant idiot daughter of yours too!"

Megatron wasn't impressed by any of this. "Get up," he snarled, wanting to grab Starscream between the wings again and drag him to the door.

"Now where are we going?" Starscream rose awkwardly from the chair, hands braced against the armrests and he rose chassis first, his back arched awkwardly to redistribute the weight. Megatron instinctively brought a hand to the small of Starscream's back to supported him as he trudged to the door.

"You're going to see a professional."

"Why?" Starscream demanded as the door opened out into the corridor. "So you can induce the sparkling early and punish me tonight to avoid suffering the guilt of potentially hurting your precious _princess_ too?" Starscream slapped his chassis on the word 'princess'.

Megatron sneered in disgust at what the dramatic seeker was insinuating, but quickly wiped the unpleasant expression off his face when he saw Soundwave stood waiting for them just metres away. Having set optics in his parents, Freefall was squirming violently, one slip from falling out of Soundwave's hands and leaving a sizeable dent in the decking.

"Give him to me," Megatron ordered, opening his arms. "And ensure Starscream makes it to the repair bay. Inform Hood he's in need of a _thorough_ examination."

Soundwave nodded in agreement and pointed an arm straight ahead to get Starscream moving. The seeker scowled, "At least give me the cloak back. You can't expect me to walk through the ship like _this_."

"Why ever not?" Megatron lifted his chin, but only to steer clear of Freefall's surprisingly strong and horrifyingly sticky fingers reaching for his face.

"Because I'm-" Starscream twisted his fingers together. "This is undignified. Look at me!"

Megatron honestly failed to see the problem. He understood Starscream was vain, but he was carrying, not deformed, or exposed. His chassis had extended outwards to make room for his expanding gestation tank and the sparkling within, and though the change was admittedly more drastic on Starscream due to his frame-type _and_ short stature, it was nothing to hide. In fact, mecha were considered at their most beautiful when they were carrying in Tarn.

It hadn't occurred to Megatron before now that that might not be a sentiment shared by all Cybertronian cultures. Vos being one of them.

It was both punishment and a push back against Starscream's ever growing vanity that he said no. He wasn't going to tolerant Starscream hiding behind a hideous cloak from now until the sparkling arrived. He may be angry at the traitor, but that didn't stop Starscream from being beautiful, and Megatron wanting to see him bearing his offspring with pride.

"Go," he ordered.

Starscream stomped off down the corridor, furious and hurt. But Soundwave appeared to be offering comfort to him. Megatron wondered when the two of then had become such good friends, and if that was something he should be worried about.

"Bah!" Freefall yelled.

"Is that all you can say?" Megatron asked, peering down at him.

Freefall disagreed with a squeal, and with movements faster than Megatron was prepared for, grabbed his sire's bottom lip and pulled on it like he wanted to rip his face off. Megatron shouted in alarm, and Freefall burst into laughter.

Megatron didn't think he'd ever fallen in love with someone quite so fast.

* * *

"He hates me," Starscream murmured, flat on his back on a repair slab. His arrival at the repair bay had been met with hilarity, the fools masquerading for medics taking great joy in his condition. Honestly, it was like they'd never seen a carrying mech before.

Soundwave's presence cut their amusement thankfully short, and the knowledge that he was currently endowed with _Megatron's_ sparkling brought some semblance of professionalism back to their demeanours. All save Bonecrusher, who could _still_ be heard making jokes about cargo-planes from the next bay over.

At Starscream's self-pitying statement, Soundwave lifted his gaze from Hook's monitor to address him. "He does not."

"Yes he does," Starscream continued tonelessly. "He hates me and he's going to take my sparklings away."

"...He does not hate you." Soundwave repeated.

Starscream heard the pause though. He twisted at the neck, "But he's going to take them away, isn't he?"

Soundwave said nothing.

"You have to tell me," Starscream sat up too quickly, knocking monitoring equipment loose. "If he's going to steal them from me you have to tell me! _I'm_ their carrier-"

"Megatron cannot steal the sparklings. They are his sparklings."

"His claim on them doesn't outrank mine, he can't just take them!"

"He does not plan to take them from you," Soundwave intoned calmly. "He plans to remove them from Earth and relocate them to a preferred environment. He fears for their safety here."

"I'll protect them-!"

"With this betrayal, Megatron has lost what little trust he had in you," Soundwave said harshly. "You have made a poor case for yourself as a responsible caregiver, and Megatron must act in what he believes are his progeny's best interests."

" _I'm_ in their best interest!" Starscream shouted.

"Then petition him to join them on Cybertron."

Reassignment to Cybertron was a fate worse than death. He would mean leaving the war, his rank, his privileges, _Megatron_ -

"No," He growled. "There's got to be another way. I'll find another way."

Soundwave offered no further advice, turning back to the monitor, but Starscream could still sense his attention on him. So he focused on concealing his plots as they began to form in his minds eye. His sparklings may be big and dopey and flightless, but they were his, and he'd be dammed if he was going let Megatron turf them off to Cybertron under the guise of coddling them.

Because when Starscream took the Decepticon throne and eventually, the universe, he wanted his little ones there to witness it. Sparklings needed role-models, after all.


	11. Chapter 11

Megatron would have liked to have taken the rest of the evening off to withdraw into his quarters and think over the events of the cycle. Unfortunately he didn't have the luxury of free time. His evening was still rammed full with meetings and briefings- _and_ he had a sparkling to mind.

The simplest solution would have been to return the troublesome pest to his creator, but still smarting over the cycle's events, Megatron was reluctant to do that. Starscream had had their sparkling all to himself for _weeks_. It was only fair Megatron should be allowed some bonding time. And he fully intended to get that time in as soon as his duties for the day were done with.

Unfortunately, his son didn't agree with his evening plans. He squirmed and fidgeted endlessly, poking and prodding and pulling at Megatron's armour as though he was oblivious to the idea that his sire could even feel pain or discomfort. To get him out of the way of his chassis, Megatron boosted him up so he was resting atop his armoured shoulder, laying across it on his round little belly. To stop him crawling any further over and topping off his back, Megatron held onto one clunky oversized foot. The other kicked him every ten seconds or so with a loud, echoing clang.

Although wearing the sparkling over his shoulder was preferable to having an tiny individual trying to pull the wiring out from between his armour seams, this angle allowed his son to _dribble_ unhindered down his back.

Revolting. But it was at least manageable.

Once Motormaster had recovered from his surprise at the sight of an unexplained sparkling hanging over his leader, the distraction little one was causing was ignorable. Megatron sat back and listened to the latest of the Stunticons' schemes, absently stroking the bottom of his sparkling's pede as they talked.

Things were fine until he began to babble.

Motormaster stopped, staring, and with a sigh, Megatron turned his head at the neck to peer at the oblivious sparkling.

"Now is not the time," he murmured. "Be quiet."

The sparkling -functioning on coding inherited from his reprobate creator, no doubt- began babbling louder, and much more insistently, clearly thinking he was somehow part of this meeting.

Megatron shot Motormaster a glare that told the mech to hold off on that last point, and wrapped a hand around his son's middle to lift him off his shoulder and meet his gaze. A long hard glare did nothing to silence the insolent little troublemaker.

It was clear his vocalisations were utter nonsense. He wasn't trying to communicate anything, so all this noise was for nothing.

Irked at the blatant disobedience, he sat his son on the large table in front of him and _pointed._ "You are disrupting a meeting of vital importance," he reprimanded.

Round optics focused on the finger, and with lightening fast reflexes, little hands shot out and grabbed it with a yell of victory. Megatron sighed heavily as his index finger was wrestled into a wet, toothless little mouth. He grimaced and tugged himself free.

"Reschedule," he advised Motormaster, standing. He didn't pick his sparkling up within zero point one seconds of standing though, so he was treated to a panicked shriek from the flailing individual in front of him.

"Alright!" he snapped, quickly rectrifying the situation. He brought his son back up to shoulder level and the sparkling grabbed at the side of his face, leant in, and _screamed_ in his audial for no reason.

He was still wincing and halfdeafened by the horrible little creature when Motormaster saluted him and said something about urgency, and taking it to Soundwave instead. The sparkling had at that point stuck his hand _into_ his neck cabling and found his voice box so Megatron's response to Motormaster was a garbled blare of noise.

And it was at that point that Megatron decided to give up. He had no worldly idea _how_ Starscream had managed to put up with this sort of behaviour and keep his sanity intact, but clearly, he hadn't been giving that seeker enough credit.

* * *

_Where is my son?!_ Was the angry comm message that popped into Megatron's inbox the second he stepped into his quarters.

Megatron's initial instinct was to ignore Starscream, keep him in the dark as he had been kept all these weeks. The more intelligent side of him knew that was a foolish idea. Starscream was quite heavy with another of his offspring, and inflicting unnecessary stress on him would be detrimental to the protoform too.

A closely guarded, softer side of him felt a swoop of guilt at the mere idea.

 _He will remain with me tonight,_ he sent back. It was only fair he had _some_ time with the sparkling. Even if just for tonight.

He would set aside some time tomorrow where they could revisit their offspring's short term living arrangements. Megatron didn't plan for either of these sparklings to reside on Earth any longer than necessary, but he was unsure of how soon a sparkling could be separated from it's creator after emergence, so perhaps he'd need to make allowances for Starscream go with them at first-

He expected Starscream to reply to his message with one a huge chunk of text, a ranting sort of essay detailing why he was wrong, and stupid, and selfish, and bad in bed, usually. But Starscream didn't. He sent one sentence.

_Good luck._

Very ominous, Megatron thought, glancing at his animated sparkling.

"Now then," he said, holding his son at arms length, feeling a sense of satisfaction at how the low tone of his voice seemed to settle the restless wriggling. "You're going to need somewhere to recharge."

The sparkling stretched out his arms and grasped at the air between them, wanting to be close. Megatron wasn't going to fall for that though. He placed him in the centre of his wide, spacious berth, out of the way.

"Stay," he commanded.

He was stared at blankly.

That would have to do.

Megatron began to search the room for something suitable with which to house a sparkling in. He upended an ammunition crate that looked a decent enough size, letting shells and cartridges scatter across the floor. He then snatched up a nearby pillow and stuffed it into the crate to act as padding.

Satisfied with his work, he turned around to retrieve his son.

The berth was empty.

It felt as though he'd been dunked in arctic waters when cold, instant dread washed over him. He took a stumbling step to the berth, his hands frantically sweeping over the covers. He opened his mouth to call his son's name, and realised with a sickening swoop of self-deprecation that he couldn't remember it!

He dropped to his knees and searched under the berth, finding nothing but datapads he'd thought long lost and the odd bullet shell than had rolled across the floor. He flattened himself and crawled under it, just in case, and just as frantic desperation was about to turn into full blown panic, he heard a muffled whine.

In his haste to scramble back out from under the berth he slammed the back of his helmet against the frame. With a curse, he shimmed backwards and sprung up, ignoring the dust now marring his plating. The berth was still empty, and just as he was about to put the noise down to his own hysterical imagination playing tricks on him, one of the pillows propped against his headboard shifted.

Megatron tipped it over, and was presented with a round little aft and two clunky feet.

"You're a menace," Megatron growled, wrapping his hand around an ankle and dragging his sparkling out from his hiding place.

His sparked cooed happily when he slid across the covers, but protested loudly when Megatron picked him up again, little face twisting into a very Starscream-like scowl. 

"I've had enough of your antics for one cycle," Megatron told him, trying not to exhaust himself with the knowledge that it had, in fact, only been three hours since they'd even met. He placed his son in the crate. "You're going to recharge."

The sparkling was interested enough by his new surroundings to quiet down. He kicked at the sides of the crate as if testing it's strength. Megatron watched him for a moment, waiting for him to settle. Soon enough, the frantic activity fizzled out.

"Good boy," Megatron praised gently, extending a finger and stroking it up and down his sparkling's little chassis. To his surprise, it wasn't grabbed and bitten. Round optics flickered tiredly.

Happy his son was about to drift off into recharge, Megatron straightened and moved away, well aware that he had a long night of contemplating to do. His musing was stopped before it could even begin when a frightful sob came from the crate.

Megatron backed up and leaned over it again. His sparkling's face was contorted, gearing up for what looked like another, louder cry. But the instant Megatron appeared above him, his face relaxed. He blinked up at his sire.

Megatron narrowed his optics suspiciously. "Go to recharge," he ordered, _again_ , amazed at how disobedient such a small individual could be.

He stepped away, and a loud protesting cry rang out.

Well aware that it was all a ploy, Megatron ignored him and retreated to his berth. The second cry was much louder, vents hitching towards the end. And the third was high and wailing and struck something deep and instinctive in Megatron's spark.

He rushed back to the crate, but his mere appearance wasn't enough this time. Optics were wet and filled with tears now dribbling down the round little face. Megatron felt crippling ineptitude when he slipped his hands under the little frame and lifted him out. The wails continued, and if anything, grew more distressed.

"Stop this," Megatron told him helplessly. "This achieves nothing."

The sparkling squirmed like he wanted to get away from him, pushing his palms against his sire's chest and turning his face away. Megatron had no idea what to do.

Against his better judgement, he carefully set him down on the berth, wondering if his ridiculous crate idea had been what had set the little one off.

Despite having shown signs of wanting to get away from his sire, separating made him _hysterical_. Megatron's spark ached when his son opened his little mouth and screamed so loudly his vocaliser cut off.

Megatron swept him back up again and held him to his chest with both arms. He wracked his processor but logical thought failed him. He had no idea how to stop this and the longer he left his son to cry the more he was exacerbating his distress.

"Starscream? Do you want Starscream?" He asked, already striding towards the door.

It would be humiliating to turn up at Starscream's door with an hysterical bitlet, and as much as Megatron resented the idea that this was beyond something he could handle, he had no choice. His sparkling was overheating, and his little vent's were struggling to keep up with his wails. He was going to make himself purge if this continued any longer.

His pride would have to wait. Sparkling in hand, he unlocked the door -and nearly tripped over the seeker in his doorway.

Starscream step back in surprise and Megatron came up short. They stared at each other blankly, before their son's next round of wails started up and thoroughly stole Starscream's attention.

With an indulgent coo he reached up to take his sparkling. Megatron allowed clawed servos to slip under flailing arms and lift him away. Starscream strode past him and into his room wordlessly. Megatron stared after him, and with a sigh of defeat, shut the door.

"Oh, what has your sire done to you?" Starscream cooed, slipping onto Megetron's berth and folding his legs beneath him. He rested the sparkling on his upper chassis and began to pat his back. "Was he useless? Did he drop you?"

"I did no such thing!" Megatron snarled, taking a menacing step towards them.

Starscream swayed back and forth. "What did you do?"

"Nothing." Megatron stood over them, fists planted on his hips. "He's clearly defective."

Starscream glared and continued to pat and sway and bounce their son. The wails began to weaken to whimpers. Starscream brushed tears from wet cheeks with his knuckles. "So _now_ you think he's defective?"

Megatron wasn't listening to him anymore. He tilted his head, awed. "How are you doing that?"

"Doing what?"

" _That_."

Starscream leant back and saw that their sparkling was falling into a fitful recharge.

" _This_ is all he _ever_ does," Starscream's harsh voice juxtaposed the soft look he gave their sparkling. "Isn't it, Freefall?"

Ah, Freefall! That was his son's name. Megatron made a note of it this time, just in case.

"What are you doing here?" He rumbled, surveying Starscream. It wasn't particularly late, but he had had Soundwave's reassurance that he would be keeping an optic on Starscream in his absence. He had assumed his Third knew that meant he was to ensure Starscream was getting sufficient rest and fuel, and didn't waste his days away fretting and scheming, as he tended to when they had personal disagreements such as this.

He didn't get an answer. Starscream frowned, then fired off question of his own. "Where were _you_ going just now?"

Seeing as neither of them wanted to admit to anything, Megatron kept his mouth wisely shut. He debated with himself over whether or not to shoo Starscream off now that Freefall had been taken care of. He doubted the sparkling would wake again before morning-

His chest felt warm and full at the idea of keeping him here though, where he could see him and feel him and bask in his presence. It felt natural, _right_ to be together, and not for the first time that evening was Megatron cursing Starscream's cleverness in being _sparked_ for the reveal of all this.

Megatron was far from a soft touch, but his newly activated protocols weren't so hardened.

He had never sired young before, or doted on a carrier, so they were working overtime now. The involuntary feelings and urges swamping him would subside with time, and his own conscious processor would once again reign true, but now? He was a slave to it.

"I suppose you want me to leave," Starscream sniffed. "But you should know now I'm not leaving here without my-"

"I don't want you to leave," Megatron cut across him, trying to let go of his _fully justified_ negative feelings.

Starscream squinted suspiciously. "Why do I find that hard to believe?"

Megatron's ire surged up. Not even siring protocols could save Starscream from his short temper. "I can no more dismiss you from my life than you can your own young!" he hissed, lip curling. "Don't treat me for a fool. You know that!"

Starscream's lips pursed, an expression he wore when the cogs were turning in that head of his. A brow quirked with interest when the invisible lightbulb lit up. "Ah, yes, those pesky siring protocols."

Megatron exhaled heavily through his flared olfactory.

"Don't you start," Starscream wagged a finger at him, cupping Freefall to his front. "If you _wake_ this sparkling-"

"Of the two of us, _I_ am not the mech most prone to screaming the base down!" Megatron whispered furiously.

Starscream's scowl softened mischievously. "...Why, Megatron," He purred softly, tilting his head up. His optics were dim and hooded now. "Were you thinking of _making_ me scream?"

Megatron's tank quivered, the fuel in his lines igniting. It was difficult to resist Starscream at the best of times. Resisting him now, with protocols muddling his head and Starscream looking like _this_ \- Primus, wars were easier won.

He bent over the fearless seeker, mindful of the slumbering sparkling between them when he braced his hands against the berth either side of Starscream's voluptuous hips. Starscream smirked challengingly when their heads knocked together lightly. Starscream nuzzled up, and the tips of their noses brushed.

"You are not forgiven," Megatron told him, but his anger was slipping away again.

"Are you _sure_...?" Starscream sounded smug. His lips brushed Megatron's as he spoke.

Megatron growled warningly, but Freefall stirred with a whine, legs shifting against Starscream's chassis. They both froze, optics darting to the back of Freefall's helmeted head. He stilled again, his little face turning to hide against Starscream's neck.

Megatron became caught up in staring at the little being they had made right up until a hand cupped the side of his face and turned it. Copper scented breath met his olfactory the instant a pair of soft lips closed over his. Starscream kissed him softly, submissively, peppering him with light, tempting little kisses in the hopes it compelled him to kiss back.

"You can't flirt your way out of this," he warned, but allowed Starscream to try anyway.

"I can flirt my way out of _anything_ ," Starscream contradicted huskily, and jutted his tongue out to lick Megatron from chin to nose.

Megatron drew back with a harsh snort, "The sparkling-!"

"He's asleep!"

"He won't be if I allowed you to ply me into an interface" Megatron straightened up and moved away for the sake of his young son's innocence. "You may recharge here. Nothing more."

Starscream looked crestfallen. Megatron wanted to let himself think it was because Starscream was an incorrigible whore, but he knew his Second and their relationship well enough to understand that Starscream would use 'facing in lieu of apologies, or explanations, or talking in general. It was much easier for him to pop a panel and flutter his wings than to be open and honest with anyone.

Perhaps Freefall's presence was a blessing in disguise.

Megatron entered the berth on the other side, and after a moment of what he assumed was stunned, offended silence, the berth shook as Starscream made to join him. Megatron watched with an arm tucked under his helm as Starscream carefully laid Freefall between them.

"I made him a place to recharge," Megatron nodded to the crate.

"No wonder he was crying," Starscream muttered, carefully folding the covers over the tiny frame. "He's too young to recharge alone. He needs a close spark presence."

Megatron nervously eyed the tiny, slumbering frame. "What if you were to roll over?"

"I won't," Starscream climbed under the covers. "And neither will you. What else are your subconscious protocols for?"

Megatron stifled growing urges to say he was rather close to having a mnemosurgeon enter his mind and remove those protocols so he could have some of his rapidly diminishing sanity back.

He wirelessly dimmed the lights, but not all the way, leaving just enough light to see the small frame twitching between him and Starscream.

Starscream shifted to lie on his side, and then they were staring at each other.

Megatron frowned, Starscream scowled, and they lay together in resentful, stifling silence until one of them fell asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Megatron consulted his chrono long before dawn the next morning, and was surprised to learn he'd clocked in a full three hours of recharge. It had felt like far less. It had _felt_ like he hadn't recharged in ten thousand years.

Which was also ironically how much he must have aged since learning he had become a sire the evening before...

The first time he was roused out of a sleep cycle was just two Earth hours into the Earth night, by Freefall kicking at the covers and mewling. Audials better attuned to the pitch of a new-spark in distress, Starscream was already awake and rectifying whatever the problem was before Megatron so much as cracked open his aching optics. He rolled into his front, buried his face into the pillow, and dozed off to the soothing sounds of Starscream lulling the little one back to sleep.

Sometime after that, and he was this time woken by a pede to the face. His systems bloomed online at full attention, jolting him upright suddenly enough to shock the fidgeting Freefall and send him into a round of frightened, hiccuping wails. Starscream, again, woke to comfort him, casting Megatron such hate filled looks it was a miracle his face didn't melt off. Megatron allowed himself to doze again as he watched Starscream fuel and hold the sparkling, looking startling competent doing so. His chest filled with an odd sort of pride watching them.

The third and final time he was woken, it was not by Freefall, but Starscream, slapping him upside the helm. He snorted into his pillow and groaned wearily as he turned his head to see the scowling seeker sat up in the berth with Freefall tugging urgently on the bottom edge of his wing.

"It's _your_ turn," Starscream said pointedly, jabbing a finger at Freefall.

Exhausted right through to his struts, Megatron curled his arms around his pillow and shoved his face into it. "He appears to want _you_ ," the pillow muffled his voice.

Another smack. Unseen, Megatron winced.

"Get up," Starscream said furiously. The berth shifted and Megatron stiffened when he felt a small but dense weight fall to the small of his back. The 'weight' began to slap his little hands against his armour, filling the room with clangs and clunks.

Megatron twisted at the waist and carefully tipped Freefall onto the berth padding. This was, unfortunately, taken as a declaration of _war_ and he was soon set upon by a startlingly persistent attacker who was pit-bent on tugging an armour panel clean off. It wasn't the most effective of assaults though, and Megatron was on the verge of drifting into recharge again when Freefall's interest shifted from peeling away armour, to the deadly fusion cannon on his sire's arm.

Curious digits had barely brushed the barrel before Megatron's optics snapped online, his siring protocols zapping him with a spark-attack inducing jolt of awareness. He yanked his arm up and out of reach.

Sat on his aft next to him, Freefall lifted his hands and made urgent, longing noises.

Starscream had rolled over and fallen back to recharge. His wings were rising and falling against his back with even intakes. Megatron contemplated nudging him with a foot to rouse him so _he_ could deal with their very awake, very curious son, but Starscream was volatile in the mornings in the best of circumstances. After a night such as this, with the condition of his frame being what it was, Megatron would probably lose the foot in the attempt.

He checked his chrono again, optical feed lagging with exhaustion, and saw they had two hours yet till the morning shift. By the time he had figured out how to coax his sparkling back to sleep he'd likely be getting up anyway. He may as well get an early start.

He tossed the covers away and rose, scooping up Freefall with one arm before the attention-seeking parasite starting shrieking. Freefall's clumsy, out of proportion hands darted immediately to the fusion-cannon. With a growl, Megatron switched arms and reluctantly detached the weapon. He caught it before it fell with a deafening clang to the floor and hefted it to the berth, laying it in his now unoccupied space.

He eyed Starscream, wondering if he really was asleep, and how likely it would be that he woke while Megatron showered and decided to attack him while he was unarmed.

Breaking his paranoid thoughts, Starscream shifted, splaying a little more indulgently now that he sensed he had the berth to himself. The pillow lay askew under his head and the covers had twisted in his limbs and fallen down to his waist, revealing his ampler condition. To top it all off, he snorted in his recharge, his mouth falling open unattractively.

Carrying suited most mecha, it boosted their systems and gave them the sort of glow even polish couldn't replicate.

Looking at the drooling, sprawled, snoring seeker, Megatron was forced to concede that it didn't suite _all_ mecha to carry. He adjusted Freefall and leant over the berth to tug the covers up to Starscream's chest. One of Starscream's wings flicked.

"Bah!" Freefall flung an arm out and pointed.

Megatron hushed him and moved them into the tiny cupboard masquerading as a washroom before the noisy sparkling woke his creator. 

He couldn't trust Freefall to sit still and behave himself, so Megatron showered with him, juggling him and the solvent as he struggled to stop damnably strong hands from tugging the piping loose from the wall and a loud mouth from trying to drink the chemical solvent. Most of it ended up going down the drain and the water was running cold before Megatron had managed to wash much more than his chest.

He quickly gave up. Deciding his hygiene was good enough for the day, he twisted the tap off and activated the overhead heating vents. Freefall cooed happily when warm air rushed across their wet armour, and was content enough to sit still in Megatron's arms for a record breaking five minutes as he basked in the warmth.

Megatron watched his optics flutter and was reminded vividly of Starscream under these same heaters, his primary coloured armour fluffed and his wings up and out, relishing the warmth. Perhaps there was a little seeker in his son after all.

Starscream was still recharging when they reentered the main room, but he had gravitated across the berth and was now spooning Megatron's discarded fusion-cannon, his arms hugging it to his chest and a leg flung over the barrel. The same position Megatron would often wake to find himself in- clutched in Starscream's possessive claws.

Megatron refused to find it endearing, forcing himself to cling to his frustrations. He _needed_ to stay angry at the seeker, because he'd need to stay firm with him. Difficult decisions would be made today, and it wouldn't do if he was too susceptible to Starscream's whims to do right by his offspring.

* * *

After delicately switching out his cannon for a pillow, Megatron left Starscream to recharge in his berth. And still channelling his inner seeker, Freefall was no more obedient in the light of day than he had been the evening before. Needing his day to be distraction free, Megatron dropped him off at the closest his son had to extended family in the base.

"You'd trust _me_ with your sparkling?!" Skywarp sounded amazed, but excited, hugging Freefall tightly to his chest. Freefall was thankfully durable enough to weather the enthusiastic love. "I wouldn't trust me with a pet rock-"

"He'll be fine," Thundercracker interjected quickly, easing Freefall out of Skywarp's thick arms. "We know what we're doing."

Skywarp pulled a disbelieving face.

"I do not care for your credentials," Megatron straightened up. "So long as he is well fuelled and uninjured when I return for him, you will have performed adequately."

"Guess that means we can't drop him, TC," Skywarp elbowed him sharply in jest. Thundercracker stumbled, nearly dropping his squirming cargo.

Freefall, despite knowing his sire less than a cycle, seemed reluctant to be parted from him. Megatron hesitated before leaving, giving him an awkward pat on the top of his helmet in farewell. "Behave yourself," he warned.

Freefall blinked vacantly.

Satisfied his son was in semi-competent hands, and his ... _Starscream_ was recuperating from a rough night, Megatron met with Soundwave in the Command Centre before the duty shift was due to start. He was relieved to see his Third had taken on the duties he had had to abandon the night before -yet another reason the sparkling was an impractical addition to his base- and had gone to the trouble of collecting a highly sensitive report from the med-bay for him.

Starscream's examination results.

Hook had been commendably thorough for a mecha who knew next to nothing about reproductive engineering, and his tests, paired with Soundwave's self-taught experience, had managed to paint a rather vivid picture of his upcoming sparkling.

Seekers did not gestate for long, so she was only a few weeks from emergence. The new-spark had already dropped from the carrier's spark chamber and into the developing protoform, and so far wasn't showing any signs of complications. There was no evidence of her being a seeker, but it was unlikely she was going to be as big as her brother. And having not long ago sparked her elder sibling, Starscream's frame was still accustomed to the weight and stress of carrying, and all systems functioned within acceptable parameters.

"Shockwave; familiarising himself with emergence procedures and awaiting your instructions," Soundwave informed him. "Laboratory; prepped and stocked with supplies for potential complications."

Megatron nodded, growing ever more sure of his decision to send all _three_ of them to Cybertron as soon as possible. "It will be far less stressful for Starscream to have this sparkling away from all this, on Cybertron. This ship is hardly tranquil."

He decided not to think too hard on how much Shockwave and Starscream detested one another to their very cores. He had full faith in his Guardian of Cybertron to act professionally and logically in assisting Starscream with preparing for the emergence and the event itself. He could only hope Starscream would have the common sense to accept that help without protest.

"Query; will Lord Megatron join Starscream on Cybertron for the emergence?" Soundwave droned.

"I highly doubt he would want anymore witnesses to that spectacle than strictly necessary," Megatron muttered, then thought on what he had already missed, and changed his mind. "...Perhaps I will have Shockwave record it."

"Starscream is reluctant to relocate his offspring," Soundwave suddenly bleated out, dangerously close to stepping over the line into 'unsolicited opinions' territory.

Megatron looked up, frowning, "I am aware."

"Compromise."

"He _has_ the freedom to make whatever choices he wants regarding where he goes," Megatron pointed out. "He can remain with his young on Cybertron if he wishes. If he would rather stay here, his rank and duties will await his return-"

"The sparklings-"

"My young will be as far from this miserable, infested planet as possible," Megatron snapped, angry that Soundwave would seek to make an already difficult decision harder. "Starscream may like to wallow in self-pity thinking this is a punishment for his deceptions, but it is the _only_ reasonable solution to this mess. If he wanted to play 'happy families' he should have waited until _after_ the war to get himself knocked up. _Twice_."

Soundwave was silent for a moment. "Megatron; bears a fair portion of the responsibility in 'knocking Starscream up'. Twice."

Megatron struggled against his mounting temper, because yes, he may have played a part in Freefall's conception, but If Starscream had thought to tell of their son's existence in a timely fashion they could - they might have made different choices.

It was difficult to say what those choices would have been in that hypothetical situation. He wasn't sure what actions he might have taken, what discussions he and Starscream might have had, but he did know that he had never wanted to bring innocent life into the absolute mess that was the war. Yet here he was now with two.

It was not what he had envisioned. It was not a reflection of his plans for his (and Starscream's) future. It was not what he had wanted for any young he sired.

He had wanted to do this properly.

He inhaled deeply and gathered himself up, lifting his chin. "Inform Starscream of the arrangements," he said. "He'll take it better if it comes from you."

Soundwave didn't appear to believe him. Megatron didn't really believe himself either.

But _he_ certainly couldn't tell Starscream, not as he was, compromised by siring protocols, and compromised _doubly_ by that weak, soft inner core that seemed content to let Starscream have his every whim and will.

For the sake of his sparklings, present and future, this was how it had to be.


End file.
